I. ˈwərm noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English wyrm serpent, worm; akin to Old High German wurm serpent, worm, Latin vermis worm
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. : earthworm ; broadly : an annelid worm
b. : any of numerous relatively small elongated usually naked and soft-bodied animals (as a grub, pinworm, tapeworm, shipworm, or slowworm)
2.
a. : a human being who is an object of contempt, loathing, or pity : wretch
b. : something that torments or devours from within
3. archaic : snake , serpent
4. : helminthiasis — usually used in plural
5. : something (as a mechanical device) spiral or vermiculate in form or appearance: as
a. : the thread of a screw
b. : a short revolving screw whose threads gear with the teeth of a worm wheel or a rack
c. : Archimedes' screw ; also : a conveyor working on the principle of such a screw
6. : a usually small self-contained and self-replicating computer program that invades computers on a network and usually performs a destructive action
• worm·like -ˌlīk adjective
II. verb
Date: 1610
intransitive verb
: to move or proceed sinuously or insidiously
transitive verb
1.
a. : to proceed or make (one's way) insidiously or deviously
worm their way into positions of power — Bill Franzen
b. : to insinuate or introduce (oneself) by devious or subtle means
c. : to cause to move or proceed in or as if in the manner of a worm
2. : to wind rope or yarn spirally round and between the strands of (a cable or rope) before serving
3. : to obtain or extract by artful or insidious questioning or by pleading, asking, or persuading — usually used with out of
finally worm ed the truth out of him
4. : to treat (an animal) with a drug to destroy or expel parasitic worms