Screwworm
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A larva of a blowfly of species Cochliomyia hominivorax (New World screwworm fly) or Chrysomya bezziana (Old World screwworm fly), of tribe Chrysomyini, parasitic in animals and sometimes humans, distinctive in eating living flesh of mammals, unlike most maggots, which eat only dead flesh.
"A sample of screwworms collected in the morning are displayed at a veterinary clinic in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico on 4 July 2025. […] The government’s confirmation of a screwworm case comes just over a week after US Department of Agriculture (USDA) secretary, Brooke Rollins, traveled to Texas to announce plans to build a sterile fly facility there as part of efforts to combat the pest."
Example
More examples"A sample of screwworms collected in the morning are displayed at a veterinary clinic in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico on 4 July 2025. […] The government’s confirmation of a screwworm case comes just over a week after US Department of Agriculture (USDA) secretary, Brooke Rollins, traveled to Texas to announce plans to build a sterile fly facility there as part of efforts to combat the pest."
Etymology
From screw + worm.
Related phrases
More for "screwworm"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.