Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Worm

Worm

(wûrm)
,
Noun.
[OE.
worm
,
wurm
, AS.
wyrm
; akin to D.
worm
, OS. & G.
wurm
, Icel.
ormr
, Sw. & Dan.
orm
, Goth.
waúrms
, L.
vermis
, Gr. [GREEK] a wood worm. Cf.
Vermicelli
,
Vermilion
,
Vermin
.]
1.
A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like.
[Archaic]
There came a viper out of the heat, and leapt on his hand. When the men of the country saw the
worm
hang on his hand, they said, This man must needs be a murderer.
Tyndale (Acts xxviii. 3, 4).
’T is slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the
worms
of Nile.
Shakespeare
When Cerberus perceived us, the great
worm
,
His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks.
Longfellow.
2.
Any small creeping animal or reptile, either entirely without feet, or with very short ones, including a great variety of animals;
as, an earth
worm
; the blind
worm
.
Specifically:
(Zool.)
(a)
Any helminth; an entozoon.
(b)
Any annelid.
(c)
An insect larva.
(d)
pl.
Same as
Vermes
.
3.
An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's mind with remorse.
The
worm
of conscience still begnaw thy soul!
Shakespeare
4.
A being debased and despised.
I am a
worm
, and no man.
Ps. xxii. 6.
5.
Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm
; as:
(a)
The thread of a screw.
The threads of screws, when bigger than can be made in screw plates, are called
worms
.
Moxon.
(b)
A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.
(c)
(Anat.)
A certain muscular band in the tongue of some animals, as the dog; the lytta. See
Lytta
.
(d)
The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to economize space. See Illust. of
Still
.
(e)
(Mach.)
A short revolving screw, the threads of which drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel by gearing into its teeth or cogs. See Illust. of
Worm gearing
, below.
Worm abscess
(Med.)
,
an abscess produced by the irritation resulting from the lodgment of a worm in some part of the body.
–
Worm fence
.
See under
Fence
.
–
Worm gear
.
(Mach.)
(a)
A worm wheel.
(b)
Worm gearing.
–
Worm gearing
,
gearing consisting of a worm and worm wheel working together.
–
Worm grass
.
(Bot.)
(a)
See
Pinkroot
, 2
(a)
.
(b)
The white stonecrop (
Sedum album
) reputed to have qualities as a vermifuge.
Dr. Prior.
–
Worm oil
(Med.)
,
an anthelmintic consisting of oil obtained from the seeds of
Chenopodium anthelminticum
.
–
Worm powder
(Med.)
,
an anthelmintic powder.
–
Worm snake
.
(Zool.)
See
Thunder snake
(b)
, under
Thunder
.
–
Worm tea
(Med.)
,
an anthelmintic tea or tisane.
–
Worm tincture
(Med.)
,
a tincture prepared from dried earthworms, oil of tartar, spirit of wine, etc.
[Obs.]
–
Worm wheel
,
a cogwheel having teeth formed to fit into the spiral spaces of a screw called a worm, so that the wheel may be turned by, or may turn, the worm; – called also
worm gear
, and sometimes
tangent wheel
. See Illust. of
Worm gearing
, above.

Worm

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Wormed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Worming
.]
To work slowly, gradually, and secretly.
When debates and fretting jealousy
Did
worm
and work within you more and more,
Your color faded.
Herbert.

Worm

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; – often followed by out.
They find themselves
wormed
out of all power.
Swift.
They . . .
wormed
things out of me that I had no desire to tell.
Dickens.
2.
To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm. See
Worm
,
Noun.
5
(b)
.
3.
To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of, as a dog, for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw. The operation was formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.
The men assisted the laird in his sporting parties,
wormed
his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies.
Sir W. Scott.
4.
(Naut.)
To wind rope, yarn, or other material, spirally round, between the strands of, as a cable; to wind with spun yarn, as a small rope.
Ropes . . . are generally
wormed
before they are served.
Totten.
To worm one's self into
,
to enter into gradually by arts and insinuations; as, to worm one's self into favor.

Webster 1828 Edition

Worm

WORM

,
Noun.
[G. This word is probably named form a winding motion, and the root of swarm.]
1.
In common usage, any small creeping animal, or reptile, either entirely without feet, or with very short ones, including a great variety of animals of different classes and orders, viz. Certain small serpents, as the blind-worm or slow-worm; the larvas of insects, viz. Grubs, caterpillars and maggots, as the wood-worm, canker-worm, silk-worm, (the larva of a moth (Phaloena,) which spins the filaments of which silk is made,) the grub that injures corn, grass, &c., the worms that breed in putrid flesh, the bots in the stomach of horses, and many others; certain wingless insects, as the glow-worm; the intestinal worms, or such as breed in the cavities and organs of living animals, as the tape-worm, the round-worm, the fluke, &c.; and numerous animals found in the earth, and in water, particularly in the sea, as the earth-worm or lumbricus, the hair-worm or gordius, the teredo, or worm that bores in to the bottom of ships, &c. Worms, in the plural, in common usage, is used for intestinal worms, or those which breed in the stomach and bowels, particularly the round and thread worms, (lumbrici and ascarides,) which are often found there in great numbers; as we say, a child has worms.
2.
In zoology, the term Vermes or worms has been applied to different divisions of invertebral animals, by different naturalists. Linnes class of vermes, includes the following orders, viz. Intestina, including the proper intestinal worms the earth-worm, the hair-worm, the teredo, and some other marine worms; Mollusca, including the slug, and numerous soft animals inhabiting the water, particularly the sea; Testacea, including all the proper shell-fish; Zoophyta or compound animals, including corals, polypes, and spunges; and Infusoria, or simple microscopic animlacules. His character of the class is, --spiracles obscure, jaws various, organs of sense usually tentacula, no brain, ears nor nostrils, limbs wanting, frequently hermaphrodite. This class includes all the invertebral animals, except the insects and crustacea. The term Vermes has been since greatly limited, particularly by the French naturalists. Lamarch confined it to the intestinal worms, and some others, whose organization is equally imperfect. The character of his class is, suboviparous, body soft, highly reproductive, undergo no metamorphosis; no eyes, nor articulated limbs, nor radiated disposition of internal organs.
3.
Remorse; that which incessantly gnaws the conscience; that which torments.
Where their worm dieth not. Mark 9.
4.
A being debased and despised.
I am a worm, and no man. Psalm 22.
5.
A spiral instrument or iron screw, used for drawing wads and cartridges from cannon or small arms.
6.
Something spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm; as the threads of a screw.
7.
In chemistry and distilleries, a spiral leaden pipe placed in a tub of water, through which the vapor passes in distillation, and in which it is cooled and condensed. It is called also a serpentine.
8.
A small worm-like ligament situated beneath a dogs tongue.

WORM

,
Verb.
I.
To work slowly, gradually and secretly.
When debates and fretting jealousy did worm and work within you more and more, your color faded.

WORM

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To expel or undermine by slow and secret means.
They find themselves wormed out of all power.
2.
To cut something, called a worm, from under the tongue of a dog.
3.
To draw the wad or cartridge from a gun; to clean by the worm.
4.
To wind a rope spirally round a cable, between the strands; or to wind a smaller rope with spun yarn.
To worm ones self into, to enter gradually by arts and insinuations; as to worm ones self into favor.

Definition 2024

Worm

Worm

See also: worm, WORM, and Wörm

German Low German

Noun

Worm m (plural Wörm)

  1. worm (animal)

Related terms

  • Lindworm

Plautdietsch

Noun

Worm m ‎(plural Warm)

  1. worm

worm

worm

See also: Worm, WORM, and Wörm

English

Noun

An earthworm

worm ‎(plural worms)

  1. A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess:
      ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’
  2. A contemptible or devious being.
    Don't try to run away, you little worm!‎
    • Bible, Psalms xxii. 6
      I am a worm, and no man.
  3. (computing) A self-replicating program that propagates through a network.
  4. (cricket) A graphical representation of the total runs scored in an innings.
  5. Anything helical, especially the thread of a ****.
    • Moxon
      The threads of screws, when bigger than can be made in **** plates, are called worms.
    1. A spiral instrument or ****, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.
    2. The spiral wire of a corkscrew.
    3. (anatomy) A muscular band in the tongue of some animals, such as dogs; the lytta.
    4. The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to save space.
    5. A short revolving **** whose threads drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel or rack by gearing into its teeth.
  6. (archaic) A dragon or mythological serpent.
  7. (obsolete) Any creeping or crawling animal, such as a snake, snail, or caterpillar.
    • Tyndale (Acts xxviii. 3, 4)
      There came a viper out of the heat, and leapt on his hand. When the men of the country saw the worm hang on his hand, they said, This man must needs be a murderer.
    • William Shakespeare
      'Tis slander, / Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue / Outvenoms all the worms of Nile.
    • Longfellow
      When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm, / His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks.
  8. An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's mind with remorse.
    • William Shakespeare, Richard III
      The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul!
  9. (mathematics) A strip of linked tiles sharing parallel edges in a tiling.

Usage notes

Although the use of the "worm" to mean "dragon" or "serpent" is archaic, those meanings are in current use in the word "wyrm" which is a doublet of "worm". Wyrm is a fairly recent borrowing directly from the Old English.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

worm ‎(third-person singular simple present worms, present participle worming, simple past and past participle wormed)

  1. (transitive) To make (one's way) with a crawling motion.
    We wormed our way through the underbrush.‎
  2. (intransitive) To move with one's body dragging the ground.
    • 1919, William Joseph Long, How animals talk: and other pleasant studies of birds and beast‎
      Inch by inch I wormed along the secret passageway, flat to the ground, not once raising my head, hardly daring to pull a full breath […].
  3. (intransitive, figuratively) To work one's way by artful or devious means.
    • George Herbert (1593-1633)
      When debates and fretting jealousy / Did worm and work within you more and more, / Your colour faded.
  4. (transitive, figuratively) To work (one's way or oneself) (into) gradually or slowly; to insinuate.
    He wormed his way into the organization‎
  5. To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; often followed by out.
    • Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
      They find themselves wormed out of all power.
  6. (transitive, figuratively, in “worm out of”) To drag out of, to get information that someone is reluctant or unwilling to give (through artful or devious means or by pleading or asking repeatedly). Often combined with expressions such as "It's like pulling teeth" or "It's like getting blood out of a stone".
    • Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
      They […] wormed things out of me that I had no desire to tell.
    • 1915, Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, The Lodger, chapter XXII:
      He nodded. "Mum's the word, Mrs. Bunting! It'll all be in the last editions of the evening newspapers—it can't be kep' out. There'd be too much of a row if twas!" "Are you going off to that public-house now?" she asked. "I've got a awk'ard job—to try and worm something out of the barmaid."
  7. (transitive, nautical) To fill in the contlines of (a rope) before parcelling and serving.
    Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.‎
  8. (transitive) To deworm (an animal).
  9. (transitive) To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of (a dog, etc.) for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw, and formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.
    • Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
      The men assisted the laird in his sporting parties, wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies.
  10. (transitive) To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm.

Translations

to move with one's body dragging the ground

See also

References

  • The Free Dictionary, Farlex Inc., 2010.

Cornish

Adjective

worm

  1. Soft mutation of gorm.

Dutch

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wurm, *worm, from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis. Compare English worm, West Frisian wjirm, German Wurm, Danish orm.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɔrm

Noun

worm m ‎(plural wormen, diminutive wormpje n)

  1. worm

See also

Portuguese

Noun

worm m (plural worms)

  1. (computing) worm (self-replicating program)

Etymology

From Middle English worm, werm, wurm, wirm, from Old English wyrm ‎(“snake, worm”), from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz (compare Dutch worm, West Frisian wjirm, German Wurm, Danish orm), from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis (compare Latin vermis ‎(“worm”), Lithuanian var̃mas ‎(“insect, midge”), Albanian rrime ‎(“rainworm”), Ancient Greek ῥόμος ‎(rhómos, “woodworm”)), possibly from *wer- ‎(“to turn”). First computer usage by John Brunner in his 1975 book The Shockwave Rider.

Doublet of wyrm, which is a fairly recent borrowing directly from the Old English.

Pronunciation

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