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# cockchafer

«cockchafer» in Mova's school dictionary: **A large brown European beetle, also called a May bug or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a cockchafer, cockchafers)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A large brown European beetle, also called a May bug or doodlebug, that flies clumsily on spring evenings and buzzes loudly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#m1)

2) Its young, a fat white grub that lives in the soil and eats plant roots. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science (minibeasts, life cycles) the cockchafer shows complete metamorphosis: egg, larva (grub), pupa, adult beetle; the grubs can live underground for three or four years. In the UK and Europe children see them bumping into lit windows in May. Phrases: «May bug», «cockchafer grub», «cockchafer larvae».

### examples

- A cockchafer bumped against our window in the evening. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#x1)
- The cockchafer has fan-shaped feelers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#x2)
- Its grubs live underground for years eating roots. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#x3)
- People also call the cockchafer a May bug. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#x4)
- The cockchafer buzzed loudly and flew in a wobbly line. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#x5)
- Farmers once thought cockchafers were a pest because the grubs ate crops. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#x6)
- We drew the life cycle of the cockchafer in science. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#x7)
- When older, she would take cockchafers and beetles, and stick pins through them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cockchafer/#x8)

### note

Said «COCK-chay-fer». «Chafer» is an old word for beetle; «cock» here just means big or male and is not rude. Plural: cockchafers. Although noisy and big, cockchafers do not sting or bite people.

### Trees and pragmatics

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