What does weevilled mean?
Weevilled is chiefly a British English verb form and adjectival participle meaning infested with weevils, the small beetles that feed on stored grain and other food products. Used transitively, it can mean to cause something to become infested with weevils, although the participial sense is far more common in descriptions of spoiled food. A writer might say that a sack of flour has been weevilled or that a warehouse full of grain is weevilled. The word is vivid rather than technical: it specifies the precise pest and therefore implies damage, contamination, or at least serious neglect. American English more often uses the adjective “weevily” for an object or place infested with weevils, while British English commonly uses “weevilled.” Both belong to the same long-established English word family based on “weevil,” an Old English term for a beetle or grub. As a past tense and past participle, “weevilled” takes the ordinary -ed ending, including a final /d/ sound, while preserving the spelling of the base form.
To cause something to become infested with weevils.
"The grain had been weevilled before shipment."
The causative transitive sense is less common than the participial use meaning “infested with weevils.”
Infested with weevils.
"Weevilled flour coated the pantry shelves."
Chiefly British; American English more often uses “weevily.”
In “weevilled,” the final d records the past tense; in “weevily,” the same beetle appears with a different ending.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of weevilled
Weevilled was formed within the modern English verb “weevil” by adding the regular past-tense and past-participle ending -ed to a base already ending in l. The noun “weevil” traces to the Old English word “wifel,” a Germanic term for a beetle or grub. Modern British usage developed “weevilled” as the inflection of the verb, while “weevily” became a common American adjective.
Related word forms
How weevilled is actually used
Chiefly British in current usage. American English more often uses the adjective “weevily.” The form is both the past tense and past participle of the verb “weevil.”
Easily confused with weevilled
A weevil is the small beetle itself, whereas weevilled describes something infested by weevils.
Weevilled is chiefly a British verb form or participial adjective, while weevily is more common in American English.