▪ I. vermin, n. (and a.)
(ˈvɜːmɪn)
Forms: α. 4–6 vermyn, 4–7 vermyne, 6 vermynne, Sc. verming, 6–8 vermine, 6– vermin; 7, 9 dial., varmin, 7, 9 U.S., virmin. β. 5–7 vermen, 6 varmen. γ. 5 vermayn, 6 vermayne. See also varment1.
[a. AF. and OF. vermin masc., vermine fem. (mod.F. vermine, Pg. vermena, It. vermine):—pop.L. *vermīnum, -īna, f. vermi-s worm. The rare γ-form is prob. directly from the OF. variant vermain (cf. mod.Burg. vermaigne, Picard. vermeinn).]
1. collect. Animals of a noxious or objectionable kind: a. Orig. applied to reptiles, stealthy or slinking animals, and various wild beasts; now, except in U.S. and Austr. (see sense b), almost entirely restricted to those animals or birds which prey upon preserved game, crops, etc. † Also in phr. beast of vermin.
| α (a) 13.. K. Alis. 6112 (Linc. Inn MS.), Euetis & snakes and paddokes brode, Þat heom þouȝte mete gode, Al vermyn þey eteþ. a 1400–50 Alexander 5422 A vale full of vermyn & all of vile neddirs. 1406 Patent Roll 7 Hen. IV, ii. m. 28 Feras et alia animalia vermyne nuncupata. 1439 Rolls of Parlt. V. 24/1 Chese and Buttur is a Merchaundise that..wil take grete empayryng by bestes of Vermyn and Wormes. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §146 Whan they haue broughte forthe theyr byrdes, to see that they be well kepte from the gleyd, crowes, fullymartes, and other vermynne. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 355 The Catt frayeth away rattes, myce, and noysome vermine. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 40 When the Corne is ripe..it is to be cut downe out of hande..because that birdes and other vermine wyll devoure it. 1603 G. Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 268 The rest..are rather vermyne than beastes of game; such is the wild Catte, the Brocke and such like. a 1631 Drayton David & Goliah 38 His father's flock..he From ravenous vermin hourly us'd to free, His only arms his sling and sheep⁓hook were. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 23 We are still at Gods advantage in all, by wet, by drought, by fire, and vermine. 1684 Contempl. St. Man ii. vi. (1699) 193 A hole..filled with Snakes, Lizards, and other poisonous Virmin. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. 120 From these three Cats, I afterwards came to be so pester'd with Cats, that I was forc'd to kill them like Vermin, or wild Beasts. 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 991 The other dogs were good-looking savage vermin, averaging about 40 lbs. weight. 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. iii. (1860) 68 That the stock of partridges, grouse, and hares on any large estate depends chiefly on the destruction of vermin. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 29 Dec. 10/1 The fox..is..regarded in the Highlands by farmers and game-preservers as one of the worst species of vermin. |
| (b) 1832 Kennedy Swallow Barn xvi, The finest place to catch vermin, as they call the three latter species of animals [racoons, opossums, and rabbits]. 1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 564 Varmin, as all wild animals are called in hunter's phrase, whether they are hunted for sport, for profit, or for extermination. 1891 E. Jenks Govt. Victoria xxxi. 291 note, ‘Vermin’ includes kangaroos, wallabies, dingoes, stray dogs, foxes, and rabbits, and any other animal or bird proclaimed by the Governor in Council. |
| β c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483) iii. x. 56 There also sawe I a wondre grete pytte ful of vermen. 1526 Tindale Acts x. 12 A certayne vessell..where in wer all maner of iiij. foted beastes of the erth and vermen and wormes. ― Rev. vi. 8 Power was geven vnto them..to kyll with swearde, and with honger, and with deeth that cometh of vermen of the erth. 1592 Warner Alb. Engl. vii. xxxvii. (1612) 178 The Weasell, Prince of Vermen. |
| γ a 1513 Fabyan Chron. ccxix. 140 b/1 Of the Famyne.., wonders are reported that they shuld ete all maner of Vermayne, as Cattes, rattes, dogges, & other. |
b. Applied to creeping or wingless insects (and other minute animals) of a loathsome or offensive appearance or character,
esp. those which infest or are parasitic on living beings and plants; also
occas. applied to winged insects of a troublesome nature.
| α c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 916 Aftir man,..vermyn es, And aftir vermyn stynkand uglynes. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) viii. 31 In þat abbay commes neuer fleess, ne flyes, ne nan oþer swilk vermyn of corrupcioun. 1484 Caxton Curial 6 We after ouermoche drynkyng of wynes and grete paynes lye doun ofte in beddes ful of vermyne. 1486 Bk. St. Albans c v b, A medecyne for vermyn. 1552 Huloet s.v., Vermyn, as flees, lyse, wormes, etc. 1591 Nashe Prognostication Wks. (Grosart) II. 165 Beggers on Sunne shine dayes..commit great murthers vpon their rebellious vermine. 1608 Topsell Serpents 103 Some of them..are transformed very strangely into a kind of vermin or wormes, who beeing couered with a hard crust or shell, lye as it were dead all the winter. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 314 In Summer, their Slaves attend about them..to scare away the Gnats and such like buzzing vermine. 1671 Milton Samson 574 Here rather let me drudge and earn my bread, Till vermin or the draff of servil food Consume me. 1722 De Foe Plague (Rtldg.) 278 Hot Weather fills the Air with Vermine. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. v. 42 These operations were extremely necessary for correcting the noisome stench on board, and destroying the vermin. 1819 Keats Otho iv. ii, No wrinkles where all vices nestle in Like crannied vermin. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 374 Vermin of the Insect kind. The insects which infest plants, orchard trees, &c., are almost as numerous as the plants or trees themselves. 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 364 For this reason tobacco ought never to be employed, as it formerly was, to kill vermin on the person. |
| transf. and fig. 1592 Lodge Euphues Shadow (Hunter. Club) 10 Many there were that carryed vermine in theyr toongues to open secrecie. c 1621 Donne Serm. lviii. (1640) 585 To the Consideration of those Vermin of the Soule, lesser and Unconsidered Sins. |
| β 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 16 When any flyes or other creping vermen are entered into the sayde riftes of theyr skinnes. 1599 Dallam in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 54 Thare we saw diverse sortes of varmen, which we have not the like in Inglande. |
2. With
a,
that,
this, etc.
a. In generic or collective sense: A kind or class of obnoxious animals.
| c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 1039 Youre woful moder wende stedefastly, That cruel houndes or som foul vermyne Had eten yow. a 1400–50 Alexander 3948 Quen he had voidid þis vermyn & vencust þat of ynde. 1548 Cooper Elyot's Dict., Volucra, a vermine, whiche eateth the tender vines. 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 16 Euen this greate beaste [i.e. the elephant] also..is troubled with this lyttle vermyne [i.e. flies]. 1599 Dallam in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 54 We..weare sodonly wonderfully tormented with a varmen that was in our pillowes, the which did bite farr worss than fleaes. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 212 This Crocodile is..a dangerous vermine used to both elements. 1634 Wither Embl. 215 Though the mice a harmfull vermine be. 1725 T. Thomas in Portland Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) VI. 110 A fox just suspended on a pole,..the shepherds..being much infested by this vermin all hereabouts. a 1774 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 44 Diseases..proceeding from an imperceptible vermin swarming within us. |
† b. A single animal or insect of this kind.
| c 1460 J. Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 62/1668 As at the sege off Thebes Ampyorax..Fyl in-to helle alle qwyk, ryght so this foule best an vermyne Myght falle thorw the erth to helle pyne. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. viii, Ha cursed & euylle serpent, vermyn and fals traytour, thow hast deceyued me. 1526 Tindale Acts xxviii. 5 He shuke of the vermen [L. vipera] into the fyre. 1590 Spenser World's Vanitie 77 The subtill vermin [sc. a spider] creeping closely neare, Did in his drinke shed poyson priuilie. 1604 Breton Passionate Sheph. Wks. (Grosart) I. 10/1 If I see the Wolfe, the Brocke, the Foxe, Or any varmin stealing downe a furrowe. 1613 Chapman Rev. Bussy D'Ambois K j b, Storme not, nor beate your selfe thus gainst the dores, Like to a sauage vermine in a trap. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. ii. 1030 'Tis true, a Scorpion's Oyl is said To cure the Wounds the Vermine made. 1809 Scott Poacher 11 Thine eye, applausive, each sly vermin sees, That baulks the snare, yet battens on the cheese. |
† c. In
pl. in preceding senses.
Obs.| 1470–85 Malory Arthur viii. iii. 277 Of beestes of venery and beestes of chace, and alle manere of vermayns. Ibid. x. lii. 500 Whiche were beestes of chace and beestes of venery, and whiche were vermyns. 1563 Homilies ii. Agst. Idolatry iii. Nn iij, We haue not folowed the Gentyles in makyng of images of beastes, fyshes, and vermins also. 1585 Parsons Chr. Exerc. i. viii. 86 It must be cast out to serue for the food of vermines. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 145 There doe engender in pulse, certain little venomous Vermins. 1648 Hexham ii. s.v. Vermeluwen, To be full of Maggots, Vermins, or Wormes. |
3. fig. Applied to persons of a noxious, vile, objectionable, or offensive character or type.
Freq. used as a term of abuse or opprobrium; in
mod. dial. sometimes without serious implication of bad qualities.
a. In collective use.
| 1562 Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 31 On the wthir syde, contrare cryis certane padokis, filthy verming, and fleis.., of the quhilk sort are the Pelagianis. 1577 F. de L'isle's Legendarie M iv b, We may then vtterly roote out this vermine (for so did the Cardinal call the Protestantes). 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1594) 148 Dancers, minstrels, bands, and such like vermin, whereof commonly there is no want about great personages. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 107 Whole swarmes of duskish vermin, to wit, a number of hideous highland Scots and Picts. 1690 T. Burnet Theory Earth ii. 214 No knaves, cheats, hypocrites; the vermin of this earth, that swarm every where. 1710 Palmer Proverbs 81 He that falls once into the company of such vermin has a misfortune. 1767 [A. Young] Farmer's Lett. to People 243 These vermin, who are generally labourers, swarm in every village round me. 1820 Macaulay in Trevelyan Life (1876) I. ii. 98 A coronation all unknown To Europe's royal vermin. 1859 Tennyson Geraint 217, I will avenge this insult,..And I will track this vermin to their earths. 1876 G. Meredith Beauch. Career I. ii. 29 The poacher was another kind of vermin than the stupid tenant. |
b. A single person or individual of this type.
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 76 b, O monstruous vermine: did I ever speake or thinke any such matter? 1627 J. Taylor Navy of Land Ships C viij, As a Horse being dead in the feilds and stripd, is a banquet for Dogs,..so is a Surety to those Vermins, who..prey vpon his estate. a 1656 Rolle Abridgm. Lit. Action sur Case (1668) 57 He is a corrupt man, he is a Vermine in the Commonwealth. 1682 Dryden Medal 31 A Vermin wriggling in th' Usurper's ear, Bart'ring his venal wit for sums of gold. 1720 Humourist 192 Human Society is not infested with a more dangerous Vermin than a Flatterer. 1796 Southey Lett. fr. Spain (1799) 373 Here I was shown a den in which a Hermit lived twelve years; a small hole for so large a vermin. 1842 J. Wilson Chr. North (1857) I. 137 The accursed vermin died somewhere in the Cottage. 1881 Ld. Salisbury in Daily Tel. 14 Nov. 2/5 The landlord is an outcast, and a vermin so horrible [etc.]. |
4. to stand true vermin, to show pluck and persistency.
rare—1.
| 1834 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 67 My horse shied..and down we both came... But I stood true vermin, and tried the islands afterwards for snipe. |
5. attrib. and
Comb. a. Simple
attrib., as
vermin head,
vermin-trap, etc.
b. Objective and
obj. genitive, as
vermin-catcher,
vermin-destroyer,
vermin-killer;
vermin-destroying,
vermin-killing;
vermin-proof adj. c. Instrumental or similative, as
vermin-covered,
vermin-eaten,
vermin-footed,
vermin-haunted,
vermin-ridden,
vermin-tenanted adjs.;
vermin-like adj.; also
vermin puddle (see
quot.).
It is not clear whether
wermine brome, glossing L.
murica in
Wr.-Wülcker 644, is an
attrib. use of this word.
| 1811 Sporting Mag. XXXVIII. 221 Were they associated as a body of *vermin-catchers? |
| Ibid. 222 They were a club of *vermin-destroyers. |
| ? 188. Dogs (Brit. Stand. Handbks.) iv. 18 Any of the *vermin-destroying powders. |
| 1837 Dickens Let. 7 Sept. (1965) I. 304 If the Pickwick has been the means of putting a few shillings in the *vermin-eaten pockets of so miserable a creature, [etc.]. 1931 R. Campbell Georgiad i. 16 So many poets..sigh to share their [sc. gypsies'] vermin-eaten ways. |
| 1865 E. Burritt Walk Land's End 182 There were scarcely any daisies or buttercups, or even the *vermin-footed charlock. |
| 1831 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) I. 417 To throw it off like a *vermin-haunted garment. 1861 Neale Notes Dalmatia 97 A tolerable inn, not more dirty nor vermin-haunted than usual. |
| 1799 Addingham (Cumberld.) Par. Bk. (MS.), 8 *Vermin Heads, 2 : 8. |
| 1680 W. W. (title), The *Vermin Killer, being a very necessary Family-Book, containing Exact Rules and Directions for the Artificial Killing and Destroying of all manner of Vermin, etc. 1772 T. Simpson (title), The Complete Vermin-killer. 1889 Daily News 21 June 7/1 Two packets of vermin killer containing about six grains of strychnine. 1893 W. H. Hudson Idle Days Patagonia v. 59 The common dog of the country is..a good watch-dog and vermin-killer. |
| 1772 Ann. Reg. i. 129 He acquired 2000l. by *vermin-killing. 1829 Scott Guy M. Note B, The race of Pepper and Mustard are in the highest estimation at this day, not only for vermin-killing, but for intelligence and fidelity. 1863 Atkinson Stanton Grange (1864) 67 Vermin-killing was well carried out there. |
| 1685 Roxb. Ballads (1884) V. 214 His..disagreeable *Vermin-like Face. 1914 Joyce Dubliners 86 A horde of grimy children populated the street... He picked his way deftly through all that minute vermin-like life. |
| 1937 Discovery Dec. 388/1 *Vermin-, rot- and fire-proof. 1982 M. Young Elmhirsts of Dartington iv. 81 A vermin-proof rice store. |
| 1850 Ogilvie, *Vermin Puddle, puddle formed of stiff clay and small stones or gravel beaten together until it forms a mass like pudding stone. It is used in the embankments of reservoirs, to prevent..the inroads of water rats and other vermin. |
| 1861 Neale Notes Dalmatia 104 The *vermin-tenanted houses are washed by the pure green waves of the lovely bay. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. 61 February... Continue *Vermine Trapps, &c. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6133, Every description of wild beast, game, and vermin traps. |
| 1859 Tennyson Elaine 139 The *vermin voices here May buzz so loud—we scorn them, but they sting. |
† 6. As
adj. Verminous.
Obs.—1| 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. iv. 443 See how a little vermine pouerty altereth a whole milkie disposition. |
▪ II. † ˈvermin, v. Obs.—1 [f. the n.] trans. To clear of vermin.
| 1573–80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 72 Get warrener bound to vermin thy ground. |