Cutworm \Cut"worm`\ (-w?rm`), n. (Zo["o]l.) A caterpillar which at night eats off young plants of cabbage, corn, etc., usually at the ground. Some kinds ascend fruit trees and eat off the flower buds. During the day, they conceal themselves in the earth. The common cutworms are the larv[ae] of various species of Agrotis and related genera of noctuid moths.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)