n. & v.
--n.
1. any of various types of creeping or burrowing invertebrate animals with long slender bodies and no limbs, esp. segmented in rings or parasitic in the intestines or tissues.
2 the long slender larva of an insect, esp. in fruit or wood.
3 (in pl.) intestinal or other internal parasites.
4 a blindworm or slow-worm.
5 a maggot supposed to eat dead bodies in the grave.
6 an insignificant or contemptible person.
7 a the spiral part of a screw. b a short screw working in a worm-gear.
8 the spiral pipe of a still in which the vapour is cooled and condensed.
9 the ligament under a dog's tongue.
--v.
1. intr. & tr. (often refl.) move with a crawling motion (wormed through the bushes; wormed our way through the bushes).
2 intr. & refl. (foll. by into) insinuate oneself into a person's favour, confidence, etc.
3 tr. (foll. by out) obtain (a secret etc.) by cunning persistence (managed to worm the truth out of them).
4 tr. cut the worm of (a dog's tongue).
5 tr. rid (a plant or dog etc.) of worms.
6 tr. Naut. make (a rope etc.) smooth by winding thread between the strands.
Phrases and idioms:
food for worms a dead person. worm-cast a convoluted mass of earth left on the surface by a burrowing earthworm. worm-fishing fishing with worms for bait. worm-gear an arrangement of a toothed wheel worked by a revolving spiral. worm-hole a hole left by the passage of a worm. worm-seed
1. seed used to expel intestinal worms.
2 a plant e.g. santonica bearing this seed. worm's-eye view a view as seen from below or from a humble position. worm-wheel the wheel of a worm-gear. a (or even a) worm will turn the meekest will resist or retaliate if pushed too far.
Derivatives:
wormer n. wormlike adj.
Etymology: OE wyrm f. Gmc