Phrase guide

dung beetle

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdʌŋ biːtəl/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of the beetle of the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles), especially of the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae, noted for rolling dung into balls for use as food or as brooding chambers.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any of the true dung beetles of subfamily Scarabaeinae.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

any of numerous beetles that roll balls of dung on which they feed and in which they lay eggs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: scarabaeid beetle, scarabaeid, scarabaean

Narrower terms: scarab, scarabaeus, Scarabaeus sacer, tumblebug, dorbeetle

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

124 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: miskruier — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Albanian: bubuzhel — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Arabic: جَعْل الرَوْث (jaʕl ar-rawṯ) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Arabic: جِعْرَان (jiʕrān) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Arabic: خُنْفُسَاء (ḵunfusāʔ) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Aramaic: ܚܪܦܘܫܬܐ — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Old Armenian: բզէզ (bzēz) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Assamese: গুবৰুৱা (guborua) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Breton: bleiz-bouzel — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Catalan: escarabat piloter — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Catalan: escarabat merder — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese Cantonese: 蜣螂 — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese Cantonese: 屎殼郎 /屎壳郎 (si2 hok3 long4) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese: сыпаню (sɨpaniu) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 牛屎龜 /牛屎龟 (ngù-sāi-gŭi) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese: 蜣螂 (khiong-lông) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese: 屎龜 /屎龟 (sái-ku) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese: 牛屎龜 /牛屎龟 (zh-min-nan) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese Mandarin: 蜣螂 (qiāngláng) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese Mandarin: 屎殼郎 /屎壳郎 (shǐkélàng) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese Mandarin: 屎蚵螂 (shǐkēláng) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Chinese Mandarin: 糞金龜 /粪金龟 (fènjīnguī) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Teochew: 牛屎核 (ghu5 sai2 hug8) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Choctaw: yʋlhki tonochi — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Czech: hovnivál — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Czech: chrobák — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Danish: gødningsbille — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Danish: møgbille — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Dutch: mestkever — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Dutch: strontkever — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Esperanto: sterkoskarabo — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Esperanto: fekskarabo — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Estonian: sitikas — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Finnish: sittiäinen — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Finnish: sittisontiainen — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • French: bousier — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • French: scarabée bousier — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • French: escarbot — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Galician: bosteiro — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • German: Mistkäfer — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • German: Mistguege — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Greek: σκαραβαίος (skaravaíos) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Ancient Greek: κάνθαρος (kántharos) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Ancient Greek: βύλαρος (búlaros) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Hebrew: חִפּוּשִׁית זֶבֶל (khipushít zével) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Hindi: गोबरैला (gobrailā) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Hindi: गुबरैला (gubrailā) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Icelandic: tordýfill — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Ido: sterko-skarabeo — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Ingrian: sittapöröläin — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Irish: priompallán — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Italian: scarabeo stercorario — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Italian: geotrupe — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Italian: stercorario — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Japanese: 糞虫 — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Japanese: 糞転がし (funkorogashi) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Japanese: フンコロガシ (funkorogashi) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Javanese: kutis — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Kavalan: baReng — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Kazakh: қиқоңыз (qiqoñyz) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Khmer: កំពូលអាចម៍ (kɑmpuul ac) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • K'iche': tuktul achaq’ — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Kikuyu: nding'oing'o — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Koasati: laiktonooni — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Korean: 말똥구리 (malttongguri) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Korean: 쇠똥구리 (soettongguri) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Korean: 소똥구리 (sottongguri) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Latvian: mēslvabole — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Lithuanian: mėšlavabalis — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Macedonian: лепешкар (lepeškar) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Navajo: chąąneiłmaasii — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gjødselbille — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gjødselbille — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Old English: tordwifel — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Old English: sċearnwibba — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Old English: sċearnwifel — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Pipil: kwitaululujtzin — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Polabian: büze vål — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Polish: żuk gnojowy — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Portuguese: escaravelho — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Portuguese: rola-bosta — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Portuguese: bosteiro — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Quechua: aka suntu — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Romanian: scarabeu — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Russian: наво́зный жук (navóznyj žuk) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Russian: наво́зник (navóznik) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Sardinian: iscarabeu — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Sardinian: carramerda — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Sardinian: carrabusu — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Scottish Gaelic: ceàrd-dubhan — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Serbo-Croatian: говноваљ — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Serbo-Croatian: балегар — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Serbo-Croatian: балегара — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Serbo-Croatian: govnovalj — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Serbo-Croatian: balegar — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Serbo-Croatian: balegara — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Slovak: lajniak — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Slovene: govnač — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Lower Sorbian: gnojowy bruk — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Upper Sorbian: hnojowy bruk — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Spanish: escarabajo pelotero — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Spanish: ruedamierda — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Spanish: ruedapelota — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Spanish: escarabajo bolero — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Swedish: bladhorning — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Swedish: dyngbagge — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Swedish: tordyvel — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Tamil: சாணி வண்டு (cāṇi vaṇṭu) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Tày: binh bút — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Tày: bung bút — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Telugu: పేడపురుగు (pēḍapurugu) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Turkish: bok böceği — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Ottoman Turkish: بوق بوجكی (bok böceği) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Ottoman Turkish: كستل (küstel) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Ukrainian: гнойови́к (hnojovýk) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Ukrainian: лайня́р (lajnjár) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Ukrainian: лайня́к (lajnják) — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Unami: tèhtëpchehikès — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Vietnamese: bọ hung — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Welsh: chwilen dom — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Xhosa: uqongqothwane class 1a/2a — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Xhosa: inkubabulongwe — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Zhuang: mbongjmbwt — insect of the family Scarabaeidae
  • Zulu: inkuba — insect of the family Scarabaeidae