Games

Word of the Day

Video

Blog: Words at Play

My Faves

Dictionary

¹worm

noun, often attributive \ˈwərm\

: a long, thin animal that has a soft body with no legs or bones and that often lives in the ground

: the young form of some insects that looks like a small worm

: a person who is not liked or respected : a very bad person

Full Definition of WORM

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)

a : a human being who is an object of contempt, loathing, or pity : wretch

b : something that torments or devours from within

archaic : snake, serpent

: helminthiasis —usually used in plural

: 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

: 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

See worm defined for English-language learners

See worm defined for kids

Origin of WORM

Middle English, from Old English wyrm serpent, worm; akin to Old High German wurm serpent, worm, Latin vermis worm

First Known Use: before 12th century

Other Invertebrates (Except Insects) Terms

anemone, cephalopod, quahog

Rhymes with WORM

berm, firm, germ, herm, perm, sperm, squirm, term, therm

²worm

verb

: to move or proceed by twisting and turning

: to give (an animal) medicine that destroys the small worms that live inside it and cause illness

Full Definition of WORM

intransitive verb

: to move or proceed sinuously or insidiously

transitive verb

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

: to wind rope or yarn spirally round and between the strands of (a cable or rope) before serving

: to obtain or extract by artful or insidious questioning or by pleading, asking, or persuading —usually used with out of <finally wormed the truth out of him>

: to treat (an animal) with a drug to destroy or expel parasitic worms

See worm defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of WORM

1610

Related to WORM

Synonyms: creep, inch, encroach

WORM Defined for Kids

¹worm

noun \ˈwərm\

Definition of WORM for Kids

: a usually long creeping or crawling animal (as a tapeworm) that has a soft body

: earthworm

: a person hated or pitied

worms plural : infection caused by parasitic worms living in the body <a dog with worms>

— worm·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective

²worm

verb

wormedworm·ing

Definition of WORM for Kids

: to move slowly by creeping or wriggling <She rolled on her back, her tears worming down her face into her ears. — Pam Muñoz Ryan, Esperanza Rising>

: to get hold of or escape from by trickery <I tried to worm my way out of trouble.> <… the doctor had wormed this secret from him … — Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island>

: to rid of parasitic worms