Meaning & use
frass
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Meaning
noununcountablebiology
The droppings of insect larvae such as caterpillars, or the fine powder left by insects that bore into wood.
Grammar: Uncountable: there is frass on the leaves, not a frass.
Patterns
- frass from something
- frass on something
Tiny pellets of frass on the leaves showed that caterpillars were feeding above.
The carpenter found frass beneath the beam and suspected beetles.
Some gardeners use caterpillar frass as a gentle fertilizer.
Common combinations
- caterpillar frass
- Caterpillar frass piled up beneath the tomato plant.
- sawdust-like frass
- Sawdust-like frass fell from the hole in the beam.
- frass pellets
- The frass pellets were smaller than a grain of rice.
- find frass
- If you find frass, look for pests overhead.
- frass on the leaves
- Frass on the leaves signaled an infestation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- droppings
- Droppings is the everyday word for waste from animals, whereas frass applies specifically to insects.
- insect waste
- Insect waste is a plain descriptive phrase, while frass is the single technical word for it.
- sawdust
- Sawdust comes from cutting wood, while frass from wood-boring insects only looks like it.
Word family
- frass-covered adjective
- covered with insect droppings
- larva noun
- the young form of an insect that produces frass
- infestation noun
- a large number of pests in a place
Commonly confused: frass or frass vs. sawdust?
frass vs frass vs. sawdust
Sawdust is made by cutting wood with a tool, while frass is a mix of chewed wood and insect waste.
Practice
Tiny dark pellets of ___ on the leaves showed that caterpillars were nearby.
Choose one answer.
Frass is insect waste. Resin comes from trees, pollen is produced by flowers, and dew is water.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “frass”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.