a young wingless often wormlike form (as a grub or caterpillar) that hatches from the egg of many insects
the larva looked ugly, but it was destined to hatch into a beautiful butterfly
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Recent Examples of larvaThe flesh-eating parasite, a larva of the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly, attacks warm-blooded animals, including humans.—Peter Burke, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2025 The parasitic flies produce larva that feed on living tissue, typically that of animals and livestock.—N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025 Screwworm is actually a fly that gets its name from how its larva infects a host.—Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 26 Aug. 2025 Each larva had to be surgically removed individually using different instrumentation.—Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 25 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for larva
Recent Examples of Synonyms for larva
nymph
Noun
As part of this act of atonement, four bulls and four heifers are slaughtered at the sanctuaries of the nymphs, and their bodies are left in a grove.