marine borer

noun

1. any mollusc or crustacean that lives usually in warm seas and destroys wood by boring into and eating it. The gribble and shipworm are the best known since they penetrate any wood in favourable water See also piddock

Example Sentences

“We’ve seen explosions of marine borer activity in the remaining timber pilings,” said Daniel A. Zarrilli, senior vice president for maritime operations at the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

From New York Times

A water-borne termite with an appetite for the pilings of piers, the marine borer made it too expensive for the Port Authority to continue maintaining the piers that are now the foundation for what will eventually be a 1.3-mile-park overlooking New York Harbor.

From New York Times

Various conflicting factions of civilization — state and city governments, community boards, local businesses, unions — have had their say about the fate of this prime strip of land along the water, but some credit for the park’s open green space goes to the almighty, if infinitesimal, marine borer.

From New York Times