sea-worm
1. Any marine annelid.
| 1681 Grew Musæum i. §vii. iii. 178 Not being naturally Tubulous, but made so by a sort of Sea-Wormes. 1769–76 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 62 Porpesses..often descend to the bottom in search of sand eels and sea worms. 1800 Hull Advertiser 31 May 2/2 Ships which have made long voyages..are subject to the sea worm. 1888 E. Clodd Story Creation iv. 30 Traces of marine organisms survive in the trails and borings of sea-worms. |
† 2. The pipe-fish. Obs.
| 1752 [see sea-adder 2]. |
† 3. A sea-serpent. Obs. rare.
| 1799 T. Holcroft Mem. (1816) III. 227 Finding this leviathan [the Kraken] so familiar to their belief, I next inquired if they had heard or knew any thing of the sea-snake, by some called the sea-worm. |