Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Moth

Moth (mŏth), n. A mote. [Obs.] Shak.

Moth, n.; pl. Moths (mŏthz). [OE. mothe, AS. moððe; akin to D. mot, G. motte, Icel. motti, and prob. to E. mad an earthworm. Cf. Mad, n., Mawk.] 1. (Zoöl.) Any nocturnal lepidopterous insect, or any not included among the butterflies; as, the luna moth; Io moth; hawk moth.

2. (Zoöl.) Any lepidopterous insect that feeds upon garments, grain, etc.; as, the clothes moth; grain moth; bee moth. See these terms under Clothes, Grain, etc.

3. (Zoöl.) Any one of various other insects that destroy woolen and fur goods, etc., esp. the larvæ of several species of beetles of the genera Dermestes and Anthrenus. Carpet moths are often the larvæ of Anthrenus. See Carpet beetle, under Carpet, Dermestes, Anthrenus.

4. Anything which gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.

Moth blight (Zoöl.), any plant louse of the genus Aleurodes, and related genera. They are injurious to various plants. — Moth gnat (Zoöl.), a dipterous insect of the genus Bychoda, having fringed wings. — Moth hunter (Zoöl.), the goatsucker. — Moth miller (Zoöl.), a clothes moth. See Miller, 3, (a). — Moth mullein (Bot.), a common herb of the genus Verbascum (V. Blattaria), having large wheel-shaped yellow or whitish flowers.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.