any of numerous insects of the order Lepidoptera that typically have stout bodies with antennae of various shapes (but not clubbed), including large brightly coloured species, such as hawk moths, and small inconspicuous types, such as the clothes moths
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WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
moth /mɔθ, mɑθ/USA pronunciation
n. [countable], pl. moths (môᵺz, moᵺz, môths, moths).
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Insectsan insect that resembles a butterfly and is active mostly at night:Moths are attracted to light.
moth
(môth, moth),USA pronunciation n., pl. moths
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(môᵺz, moᵺz, môths, moths).USA pronunciation
- Insectsany of numerous insects of the order Lepidoptera, generally distinguished from the butterflies by having feathery antennae and by having crepuscular or nocturnal habits.
- InsectsSee clothes moth.
- bef. 950; Middle English motthe, Old English moththe; akin to German Motte, Old Norse motti
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'moth' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Angoumois grain moth
- Bacillus thuringiensis
- Cecropia moth
- Chichester
- Divine Mother
- Great Idaean Mother
- Great Mother
- army cutworm
- armyworm
- bagworm
- bee moth
- beet armyworm
- biological parent
- black witch
- bogong
- bombycid
- brown-tail moth
- buck moth
- buffalo carpet beetle
- burnet
- butterfly
- cabbage looper
- cabbage moth
- cactoblastis
- cactus moth
- camphor ball
- carpenterworm
- carpenterworm moth
- carpet moth
- casemaking clothes moth
- caterpillar
- cedar
- chignon
- chrysalis
- cinnabar
- clearwing
- clothes moth
- codling moth
- corn earworm
- cornborer
- currant borer
- death's-head moth
- den mother
- diamondback
- diamondback moth
- earth mother
- emperor moth
- forester
- foster mother
- gelechiid