n. Any of various moths of the family Geometridae, having caterpillars commonly known as inchworms that move by looping the body in alternate contractions and expansions. Also called geometer. [From New Latin Geōmetridae, family name, from Latin geōmetrēs, geometrician, land-measurer (the family being so named because the caterpillars seem to measure the surface on which they crawl by the length of their bodies), from Greek, from geōmetrein, to measure land; see GEOMETRY.] ge·ome·trid adj. |
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