Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Shipworm
Ship′wormˊ
,Noun.
(Zool.)
Any long, slender, worm-shaped bivalve mollusk of
Teredo
and allied genera. The shipworms burrow in wood, and are destructive to wooden ships, piles of wharves, etc. See Teredo
. Definition 2024
shipworm
shipworm
English
Noun
shipworm (plural shipworms)
- Any of several wormlike marine mollusks (not true worms) of the family Teredinidae, that bore through the wooden hulls of ships and other woody material immersed in salt water.
- 1955, Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea,
- Old spars and water-soaked timbers cast on the beach are full of the workings of the shipworm—long cylindrical tunnels penetrating all parts of the wood.
- 2002, Erkki Leppäkoski, Stephan Gollasch, Sergej Olenin, Invasive Aquatic Species of Europe: Distribution, Impacts, and Management,
- Even though mankind has tried to develop counter measures for thousands of years, still there is no easy solution to the shipworm problem in sight.
- 2004, Donald Launer, A Cruising Guide to New Jersey Waters,
- In our waters, however, the shipworm seldom attains a length of over a foot-and-a-half long.
- 1955, Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea,