dew-worm
(ˈdjuːwɜːm)
[f. dew n. + worm. OE. deaw-wyrm, Du. dauwworm, are known only in the sense ‘ring-worm’; E.Fris. dauwurm is ‘earth-worm’ and ‘ring-worm’; Da. dugorm ‘a dew-snail’.]
The common earth-worm; in OE. a name of the disease ring-worm.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 122 Wið..deaw wyrmum ᵹenim doccan oððe clatan. 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie ii. vii. 206 Cling'd so close, like deaw-worms in the morne. 1653 Walton Angler 92 The Dew-worm which some call the Lob-worm. 1675 H. Teonge Diary (1825) 83 Earth..like that which dew-wormes throe up. 1829 Sporting Mag. XXIII. 222 The small dew-worm is an excellent bait. 1875 M. G. Pearse Daniel Quorm 27 Like to a dew-worm that hears you a comin' an' starts back into his hole in a minute. 1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports. i. v. §3. 312 The dew-worm, or large garden-worm..six to twelve inches in length. |