I. ˈmagət, ˈmaig-, usu -əd.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English mathek, maddock, magotte worm, grub, maggot, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse mathkr magot, worm; akin to Old English & Gothic matha maggot, worm, Old High German mado maggot, Middle Low German maddik earthworm, and perhaps to Armenian mat'il louse
1.
a. : a soft-bodied legless grub that is the larva of various dipterous insects (as the housefly), that lacks a head capsule, has posterior complex respiratory apertures, and develops usually in decaying organic matter or as a parasite in plants or animals — see myiasis
b. : something resembling a maggot
a dead city spored with the maggots of helmeted figures — Bernard Frizell
2.
a. : a sudden usually eccentric idea : whim
got some maggot in her head about being loved for her own sake — D.C.Murray
b. : a fixed idea : obsession
a decent and civilized lieutenant whose personal maggot was to spend the war in magnificent action — John McCarten
3. : an old English country dance tune usually coupled with someone's name
My Lady Winwood's Maggot
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: short for maggotpie
dialect England : magpie