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# caterpillar

«caterpillar» in Mova's school dictionary: **the long, soft, worm-like larva of a butterfly or moth…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a caterpillar, caterpillars)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A caterpillar is the long, soft, worm-like larva of a butterfly or moth, with many legs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/#m1)

2) A Caterpillar track is a moving metal belt around the wheels of a tractor or tank (often written caterpillar track). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science, the caterpillar is the second stage of a butterfly's life cycle: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly. Caterpillars eat leaves and grow quickly, shedding their skin several times. Some caterpillars have hairs that sting or cause itchy rashes, so look but do not touch. Phrases: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, caterpillar to butterfly, hairy caterpillar.

### examples

- The caterpillar munched a cabbage leaf. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/#x1)
- A caterpillar turns into a butterfly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/#x2)
- Caterpillars hatch from tiny eggs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/#x3)
- Some hairy caterpillars can make your skin itchy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/#x4)
- The caterpillar made a chrysalis. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/#x5)
- We read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/#x6)
- "I writhed myself free," said the Caterpillar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/#x7)

### note

Spelling: cat-er-pil-lar, double l. A caterpillar is not a worm: it has legs and becomes a butterfly or moth. Caterpillars have six true legs at the front, like all insects, plus extra stumpy "prolegs".

### In the corpora

- [Monarchs taste bad to birds because their caterpillars eat poisonous milkweed.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/98-the-butterfly-house/14/)
- [Some caterpillars have hairs or spines that sting or cause rashes, so not every animal that hurts is venomous.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/166-australias-venomous-animals-and-why-few-people-die/13/)
- [A caterpillar turns into a butterfly inside a chrysalis, where its body breaks down and is rebuilt.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/219-butterflies-moths-and-ladybirds/5/)
- [Only the caterpillars of a few kinds of moth eat wool clothes; most moths never touch clothes at all.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/219-butterflies-moths-and-ladybirds/10/)
- [A moth's caterpillar often makes a silk cocoon before it changes, but a butterfly's caterpillar makes a bare chrysalis.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/219-butterflies-moths-and-ladybirds/17/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «caterpillar» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/caterpillar/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.