Standard Lemma guide

mealworm

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

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  • /ˈmiːlˌwɜː(ɹ)m/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The larval stage of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), a species of darkling beetle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: usually

Examples

  • We buy mealworms to supplement our chickens' feed ration, and they do some scratching in the yard to find other bugs too.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: worm

2

noun

Meaning 2

This or any other larva that looks similar and is found in similar circumstances (i.e., in meal, in flour, in food, in the pantry, in feed, in the feedroom), such as the larva of a mealmoth (flour moth).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, informal, sometimes

Examples

  • Near-synonym: waxworm
  • They'd seen a few mealmoths and mealworms in recent days, and then they figured out that the cornflakes in the pantry were the source of the problem.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: waxworm

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the larva of beetles of the family Tenebrionidae

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: larva

History

Etymology

From meal + worm.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: брашнян червей (brašnjan červej) — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • Catalan: cuc de la farina — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黃粉蟲 /黄粉虫 (huángfěnchóng) — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • Finnish: jauhomato — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • French: ver de farine — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • Polish: mącznik — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • Portuguese: larva-da-farinha — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • Portuguese: tenébrio — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • Russian: мучно́й червь (mučnój červʹ) — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • Spanish: gusano de la harina — larva of the Tenebrio molitor
  • Turkish: un kurdu — larva of the Tenebrio molitor