English

Banded woolly bear (Pyrrharctia isabella)

Alternative forms

• wooly bear

Noun

woolly bear ‎(plural woolly bears)

1. (colloquial) A hairy caterpillar.
2. Specifically, the larva of a moth of the family Arctiidae.
3. (military slang, historical) An explosive shell that gives out dense smoke when it bursts.
   • 1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage 2014, p. 236:

     As Bourne came out, he could see shells exploding by the dump, with some shrapnel bursting, woolly-bears they called them, overhead.

   • 2000, Harold A Skaarup, Whiz Bangs and Woolly Bears, p. 12:

     ‘A Woolly Bear was used for demolition, and could be compared with our 5.9's. It burst on impact, made a big hole and left a tremendous cloud of black smoke.’

Synonyms

• woolly worm

Translations