Worm definition
To worm one's way through a tunnel.
An example of a worm is a roundworm.
An example of a worm is the larva of a caterpillar.
An example of a worm is a person who always lies and cheats.
An example of a worm is a computer program that duplicates itself, fillling up all the storage space on a drive.
An example of worm is to crawl through a tunnel on your belly.
She wormed her way into his confidence.
Wormed a confession out of the suspect.
Wormed the dog.
He can't worm out of this situation.
The worm of conscience.
- The thread of a screw.
- The coil of a still.
- An Archimedean screw or similar apparatus.
- A short, rotating screw that meshes with the teeth of a worm gear or a rack.
Wormed the dog.
- A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.
- (anatomy) A muscular band in the tongue of some animals, such as dogs; the lytta.
- The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to save space.
- A short revolving screw whose threads drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel by gearing into its teeth or cogs.
'Tis slander, / Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue / Outvenoms all the worms of Nile.
When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm, / His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks.
- a complex, usually unpleasant problem
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of worm
- Middle English from Old English wurm variant of wyrm wer-2 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- 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 *wrÌ¥mis (compare Latin vermis '"˜worm', Lithuanian var̃mas "˜insect, midge', Albanian rrime "˜rainworm', Ancient Greek ῥόμος (rhomos, “woodworm")), possibly from *wer- "˜to turn'. First computer usage by John Brunner in his 1975 book The Shockwave Rider.
From Wiktionary