I. worm 1 /wɜːm $ wɜːrm/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: wyrm 'snake, worm' ]
1 . a long thin creature with no bones and no legs that lives in soil ⇨ ↑ earthworm , ↑ lugworm
2 . the young form of an insect, which looks like a short worm ⇨ ↑ glow-worm , ↑ silkworm , ↑ woodworm
3 . have worms if a person or animal has worms, they have legless ↑ parasite s (=small creatures that eat their food or their blood) in their body ⇨ ↑ roundworm , ↑ tapeworm
4 . someone who you do not like or respect
5 . a type of computer ↑ virus that can make copies of itself and destroy information on computers that are connected to each other
6 . the worm turns literary used to say that someone who normally obeys someone without complaining suddenly refuses to do this
⇨ can of worms at ↑ can 2 (4)
II. worm 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . worm (your way) into/through etc something to move through a small place or a crowd slowly, carefully, or with difficulty:
He wormed his way under the fence.
2 . worm your way into sb’s affections/heart/confidence etc to gradually make someone love or trust you, especially by being dishonest
3 . worm your way out of (doing) something to avoid doing something that you have been asked to do by making an excuse that is dishonest but clever:
Steve wormed his way out of going to the meeting.
4 . to give an animal medicine in order to remove ↑ parasite s that live inside it
worm something out of somebody phrasal verb
to get information from someone who does not want to give it