▪ I. worm, n.
(wɜːm)
Forms: 1 wyrm, 3, 5–6 Sc. wirm(e, (3 wrim, 5 wyrme, 6 Sc. virme); 1–3 weorm, 3–5 werm, 4–5 werme; 1–4 wurm, (3 wurem, Orm. wurrm, 3, 5 wrm); 6 wourme, Sc. woirme, 6–7 woorme, 4–7 worme, 3– worm.
[OE. wyrm (:—*wurmi-z) = OFris. wirm (WFris. wjirm, NFris. würm, EFris. wurm), OS. wurm serpent (MLG., LG. worm, MDu., Du. worm), OHG., MHG., G. wurm † serpent, worm; also (with a-stem) ON. ormr (for *wormr) serpent (Sw., Norw., Da. orm); the stem of Goth. waurms ὄϕις is uncertain. Related to L. vermis worm, Gr. ῥόµος, ῥόµοξ wood-worm.
In this word, as in worse and wort, the spelling wo is an early graphic substitution for wu (cf. ME. wolf, wolle, wonder, for OE. wulf, wull, wunder), and this again is a reversion from OE. wy (i.e. wü) to the unmutated vowel through the influence of the following r. More normal developments of OE. wyrm appear in the ME. (eastern and Sc.) wirm and (south-eastern) werm.]
I. 1. A serpent, snake, dragon. Now only arch.
| Beowulf 2287 Þa se wyrm onwoc. c 1000 ælfric Deut. xxxii. 24 Ic sende wildeora teð on hi mid wurmum & næddrum. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 321 He..Wente in to a wirme, and tolde eue a tale. c 1290 St. James 179 in S. Eng. Leg. 39 A fuyr Drake þar-opon a-ȝein heom cominde huy seiȝe..Anon hadde þis luþere worm is pouwer al ilore. a 1300 Cursor M. 5896 Þan tok aaron þis ilk yeird, And on þe flore he kest it don, And it become a worme felon. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 720 Sumwhyle wyth wormez he werrez, & with wolues als. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 66 Whi wolde God vr saueour suffre such a worm In such a wrong wyse þe wommon to bi-gyle? c 1475 Partenay 5859 The serpent fill don dede..Which worme was ny ryght ten hole feete of lenght. 1526 Tindale Acts xxviii. 4 When the men off the countree sawe the worme hange on hys honde. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. ii. 243 Hast thou the pretty worme of Nylus there, That killes and paines not? 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1068 O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give eare To that false Worm. 1727 Pope To Mr. John Moore iii, That ancient Worm, the Devil. 1778 W. Hutchinson View Northumb. ii. 162 The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 780 The mother sees, And smiles to see, her infant's playful hand Stretch'd forth to dally with the crested worm. 1867 Morris Jason x. 258 Therewith began A fearful battle betwixt worm and man. |
† 2. a. Any animal that creeps or crawls; a reptile; an insect.
Obs. In
ME. often
wild worm.
Cf. blind-worm,
slow-worm (a lizard); also
galleyworm,
glow-worm.
| c 893 ælfred Oros. i. vii, Froxas comon..swa fela þæt man ne mihte..nanne mete ᵹeᵹyrwan, þæt þara wyrma nære emfela þæm mete, ær he ᵹeᵹearwod wære. c 1000 ælfric Deut. iv. 18 Ne wyrce ᵹe eow..nane anlicnyssa..ne fuᵹeles, ne wyrmes [reptilium], ne fisces. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 51 Þer wunieð fower cunnes wurmes inne [viz. adders, toads, frogs and crabs]. a 1225 Ancr. R. 206 Þe scorpiun is ones cunnes wurm. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2982 Ðis wirmes [frogs and toads] storuen in ðe stede. c 1325 Sir Orfeo 252 (Sisam) Now seþ he noþing þat him likeþ, Bot wilde wormes bi him strikeþ. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 112 Briddes and bestes..And wilde wormes in wodes. c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 27 If Cow or Calf or Sheepe or Oxe swelle That any worm hath ete or worm ystonge. ? c 1400 Lydg. æsop's Fab. v. 117 Thus were these wormes [the frog and mouse] contrary of livyng. 1535 Coverdale Exod. viii. 21, I wil cause cruell wormes (or flyes) to come vpon the. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 37 Cantarides..are grene wormes shewing with a glosse lyke golde. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. xxxvii. 196 This herbe dryueth away..the stinking wormes or Mothes called Cimici. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. viii. 41 b, Certaine small flying wormes, which with their billes and stinges picking the other figs, sodaynely after they are picked, they come to a good and perfect ripenesse. 1587 Turberv. Trag. Tales ix. 128 b, Vnderneath this bed of Sage, The fellow that did dig, Turnd vp a toade, a loathsome sight, A worme exceeding big. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 476 At once came forth whatever creeps the ground, Insect or Worme. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude xiv. 274 The meek worm that feeds her lonely lamp Couched in the dewy grass. 1820 Shelley Prometheus Unb. iv. 545 Ye beasts and birds, Ye worms, and fish. |
† b. Applied (like
vermin) to four-footed animals considered as noxious or objectionable.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1573 Lions & Libardes & other laithe wormes. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxiv. (Arb.) 100 Alas me growleth of thyse fowle nyckers [sc. young marmosets]..I sawe neuer fowler wormes. |
3. a. A member of the genus
Lumbricus; a slender, creeping, naked, limbless animal, usually brown or reddish, with a soft body divided into a series of segments; an earthworm. More widely, any annelid, terrestrial, aquatic, or marine.
Also with defining term, as
dew,
earth,
ground,
lug,
mud,
pipe,
rag,
rain,
sand,
sea,
tag,
tube,
water: see the words.
| a 1100 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 320/31 Uermis, wyrm. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. cxv. (1495) hh i b/1 Some ben water wormes and some ben londe wormes. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 44 Maddockis, þat ben wormes of þe erþe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 530/1 Wyrme, vermis. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 234 b, Lyke as the worme y{supt} is crusshed or poysoned, may scantly crepe or lyfte vp her heed. 1530 Palsgr. 290/2 Worme in the erthe, uers de terre. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 149 A marrishe is to be preferred before a dry ground, that they [viz. swine] may..digge vp woormes. 1608 Shakes. Per. iv. i. 79, I neuer..trode vpon a worme against my will, but I wept fort. 1731 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 269 The slimy tribe of Snails and Worms. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 144 We now are in doubt whether he means a real worm, or a young animal of the lizard species. 1840 Newman Paroch. Serm. V. viii. 128 Like worms working their way upwards through the dust of the earth. 1855 Kingsley Glaucus (1878) 166 Pectinaria Belgica..is an Annelid, or true worm. 1855 Gosse Mar. Zool. i. 84 The Sea-mouse (Aphrodita) one of the most common as well as the largest of our Worms. 1881 Darwin Form. Veget. Mould i. 13 Worms are nocturnal in their habits. |
b. Prov. tread on a worm and it will turn:
i.e. even the humblest will resent extreme ill-treatment. Also in variant or abbreviated forms,
e.g. even a worm will turn.
Cf. F.
un ver se recoquille bien quand on marche dessus.
| 1546 Heywood Prov. (1867) 52 Tread a woorme on the tayle and it must turne agayne. a 1548, 1641 [see turn v. 66 d]. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. ii. 17 The smallest Worme will turne, being troden on. 1611, 1641 [see turn v. 59 c]. 1691 S. Shaw Diff. Humours Men 18 He has scarce the courage of a Worm, to turn at him that treads upon him. 1818 [see wound v. 3]. 1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Liv. xxv. 245 It exhausted the patience of the much-enduring Willis; so that the worm turned again—insolently. 1864 Browning Mr. Sludge 72 Tread on a worm, it turns, sir! If I turn, Your fault! |
† c. naked as a worm: entirely naked (
= F.
nu comme un ver), or in allusion to this.
Obs.| ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 454 Nakid as a worme was she. c 1386 ― Clerk's T. 824 Lat me nat lyk a worm go by the weye. c 1450 Cov. Myst., Fall of Man 291, I walke as werm with-outyn wede. a 1467 [see naked a. 1 b]. |
† d. to look worms: ? to peer narrowly (
through).
Obs. (But
perh. a corrupt reading.)
| c 1600 Timon i. ii, I'le make the[e] looke wormes through the pryson grates, Vnlesse thou satisfie to me my debt. |
e. transf. and
fig. phr. worm's-eye view [after
bird's-eye view (
bird's-eye a. 3); see also
eye view], a view taken as from the standpoint of a worm,
i.e. from ground-level; a revealing or detailed perspective of a subject. Also
worm's-eye map (
Geol.) (see
quot. 1972).
| 1908 [see eye view, eye-view]. 1933 Archit. Rev. LXXIII. 67/2 The illustration is a worm's-eye view of a corner of the building. 1945 A. Huxley Time must have Stop xiv. 145 He..looked..up at the statue above him. What a curious worm's-eye view of a goddess! 1951 Krumbein & Sloss Stratigr. & Sedimentation xiii. 421 Such paleogeologic maps, in which the observer looks upward at the base of a higher unit, have been called worm's eye maps. 1960 John o' London's 14 Apr. 428/3 His ‘worm's eye view’ of Dublin was beginning to give way to the great vision of a major artist. 1964 Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists XLVIII. 1187/2 A lap⁓out map, commonly known as a ‘worm's eye’ map, is a special method of paleogeologic expression where post⁓unconformity geologic relations are portrayed. 1972 Gloss. Geol. (Amer. Geol. Inst.) 797/1 Worm's-eye map, (a) a term applied..in reference to the pattern of formations that would be visible to an observer looking upward at the bottom of the rocks overlying a given surface. (b) A map showing overlap of sediments. 1982 A. Price Old Vengeful ix. 147 This is the worm's-eye view of what you seek. If you wish for the eagle's-eye view, you must go to Paris. |
4. Any endoparasitic helminth breeding in the living body of men and other animals. Usu.
pl. (formerly often with
the). Also, the disease or disorder constituted by the presence of these parasites.
The numerous kinds are indicated by a defining term, as
flat,
gourd,
Guinea,
hair,
maw,
palisade,
pin,
round,
tape,
thread: see these words.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 120 Wiþ þam wyrmum þe innan eᵹlað þam men. c 1290 Beket 2213 in S. Eng. Leg. 170 Ful of wormes was is flesch. 1382 Wyclif Acts xii. 23 And he waastid of wormes, deiede. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 466 Als lang as he liffid after, wormes & mawkis bred in his flessh & eate it away. 1486 Bk. St. Albans c vij b, A medecyne for wormys called anguellis. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §103 The wormes is a lyght dysease, and they lye in the greatte paunche, in the belye of the horse, and they are shynynge, of colour lyke a snake, syxe inches in lengthe. a 1530 J. Heywood Play of Love 676 (Brandl) Wherby loue is a drynk mete To gyue babes for wormes, for it drynketh bytter swete. 1630 Randolph Aristippus 25 The King of Russia had died of the wormes, but for a powder I sent him. 1652 W. Poole Country Farrier 33 To cure the Wormes, or Bottes that doe wring his belly. 1665 Golden Coast, Guinney 10 There is a kinde of long Worm, that ariseth in the Legs, Arms, and Thighs of some men that come hither. 1705 W. Bosman Guinea xiii. (1721) 94 The National Diseases here are the Small-Pox and Worms. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet (1736) 413 Children subject to Worms ought not to live much upon Milk, Cheese, or ripe Fruits. 1822 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 365 In an attack upon worms, brisk cathartics should always take the lead. 1826 J. Evans Brit. Herbal 57 Germander, the juice of the leaves dropped in the ears killeth the worms in them. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases xxxvi. 534 A dose of santonin often produces results which will seem to justify a diagnosis of ‘worms.’ |
5. a. The larva of an insect; a maggot, grub, or caterpillar,
esp. one that feeds on and destroys flesh, fruit, leaves, cereals, textile fabrics, and the like. Also
collect. the worm, as a destructive pest.
With defining term prefixed, as
book,
caddis,
canker,
case,
† cawel,
horn,
measuring,
palmer,
red,
rook,
silk,
slug,
span,
tobacco,
whirl,
white,
wire: see these words.
| a 1000 Riddles xlviii. 3 Me þæt þuhte wrætlicu wyrd..þæt se wyrm forswealᵹ wera ᵹied sumes. a 1225 Ancr. R. 138 Wiðuten salt fleshs gedereð wurmes..& forroteð sone. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10045 Þo grene corn in somer ssolde curne, To foule wormes muchedel þe eres gonne turne. a 1300 Cursor M. 6612 Þai fand bot wormes creuland emid [i.e. in the manna]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cxiv. (Tollemache MS.) In somer þe tender leues þerof beþ eten with smal schagges, and with oþer wormes. 1415 Hoccleve To Sir John Oldcastle 466 The worm for to sleen in the pesecod. c 1440 Palladius on Husb. iv. 965 Now pike out moughthes, attercoppes, wormes, And butterflie whos thost engendring worm is. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye p. xxv, The Chambres schal haue al the clothes in her warde,..makyng, repayryng, and kepyng them from wormes. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. lx. 522 The small wormes that are found within the knoppes or heades of Teaselles. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 114 She..let concealment like a worme i'th budde Feede on her damaske cheeke. 1608 Topsell Serpents 78 The small Wormes of the Drones. c 1630 Milton Arcades 53 Or what the cross dire-looking Planet smites, Or hurtfull Worm with canker'd venom bites. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 230 Books are subject among other Chances to fire, and the Worme. 1677 Rector's Bk. Clayworth (1910) 35, I observed worms in wheat and Rye. 1718 Prior Solomon iii. 132 The Worm that gnaws the ripening Fruit. 1797 in A. Young Agric. Suffolk 39 Wheat never plants kindly after a thin crop of clover; but is subject to the worm, and to be root fallen. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 239 The crawling worm, that turns a summer-fly. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Shakesp. Wks. (Bohn) I. 358 They have left..no file of old yellow accounts to decompose in damp and worms. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xli, The worms have eaten the cloth a good deal. 1857 Kingsley Lett. (1877) II. 41 The office of worms in this world is to prevent, while they seem to accelerate, putrefaction. 1884 J. Phin Dict. Apicult. 78 When worms are spoken of by the ordinary beekeeper, the larvæ of the bee⁓moth are almost always meant. 1886 Tobacco (ed. Lock) 55 Worms, in the American phraseology, here generally known as caterpillars, are the bête noire of the tobacco grower. |
| fig. 1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. 305 b, Pride, which is the moght, the worme that eateth vp the riche men. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 287 Nothing can man have so pleasing, green, and, in appearance, so lasting, which has not its own worm prepared by God, whereby, in the dawn, it may be smitten and die. |
b. The larva or grub of many kinds of beetles, destructive to trees, timber, furniture, etc. (
Cf. 9 and
wood-worm (
wood n.1 10 b).)
| a 1100 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 121/35 Termes, uel teredo, wyrm þe borað treow. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 376 Right as wormes shendeth a tree. c 1470 E.E. Misc. (Warton Club) 70 Iff wormys wex in a tre. 1531 Elyot Gov. ii. xiv. ¶1 As the wormes do brede moste gladly in softe wode and swete. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. iv. 154 As the woirme that workis vnder cuire At lenth the tre consumis that is duire. 1601 Holland Pliny xvii. xxiv. I. 539 As touching the Worme, some trees are more subject unto it than others. 1657 R. Austen Fruit Trees i. (ed. 2) 72 Foure Diseases that sometimes happen to Fruit-trees. Mossinesse, Bark bound, Canker, and Wormes. 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 190 The Worm is very apt to get between the Bark of this Wood after it is fell'd. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 236 Worms ate the floors, the tap'stry fled the wall. 1925 C. J. Gahan Furniture Beetles 5 Furniture or..woodwork..destroyed by what is commonly known as the worm—little six-legged, white grubs which live inside the wood, devouring it and turning it to powder. |
c. contextually. A silkworm.
| a 900 Leiden Riddle 9 Uyrmas mec ni auefun uyndicræftum. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 196 In this country breed the Wormes which make silk. 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 53, I thinke that God and nature thought it meete, The noblest wormes on noblest tree to feede. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iv. 73 The Wormes were hallowed, that did breede the Silke. 1626 Middleton Anything for Quiet Life ii. ii, An especial good piece of Silk; the Worm never spun a finer thread. 1634 Milton Comus 715 Spinning Worms, That in their green shops weave the smooth-hair'd silk. 1707 Mortimer Husb. 220 It is good to let the [Mulberry] Leaves be clear of Dew or Rain before you give them unto the Worms. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 59/1 As these moulting periods approach, the worms lose their appetite and cease eating. |
6. a. A maggot, or, in popular belief, an earthworm, supposed to eat dead bodies in the grave.
| a 900 Juliana 416 Þæs lichoman seþe on leᵹ re sceal weorðan in worulde wyrme to hroþor. a 1000 Soul & Body 114 Rib reafiað reðe wyrmas. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 15 We beoð wiðuten al swa ðe deade mannes þruh, þe is wiðuten ihwited, and wiðinne stinkende and full of wermes. c 1250 Death 157 in O.E. Misc. 178 Nu þe sculen wormes [Jesus MS. wurmes] wunien wiðinne. a 1300 Cursor M. 14321 Wormes biginnes at ete him nu. a 1400 Minor P. Vernon MS. 661/114 Wormes blake wol vs enbrase. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 37 b, Thou shalt haue no power to fele the stenche of thy body, nor howe the wormes shall suke thy roten kareyn. 1542 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 164 My soull to God my maker, and my bodie to the wormes. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Job xix. 26 Thogh after my skin wormes destroy this bodie. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. i. 108 Men haue died from time to time, and wormes haue eaten them. 1611 Bible Job xxiv. 20 The worme shall feed sweetly on him. a 1679 J. Ward Diary (1839) 274 Three months after, his bodie went to the wormes. 1795 M. G. Lewis Monk (1796) III. 65 (Alonzo the Brave xii), The worms they crept in, and the worms they crept out, And sported his eyes and his temples about. 1815 Southey Life & Corr. (1850) IV. 135 Some of our party told me of a third [grave], in which the worms were at work, but I shrunk from the sight. 1892 W. Watson Great Misgiving 4 in Lachrymæ Musarum 52 Life is a feast, and we have banqueted—Shall not the worms as well? |
punningly. (
Cf. Shakes. Ham. iv. iii. 21–3.)
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T. s.v., He is gone to the diet of worms, he is dead and buried, or gone to Rot-his-bone. |
b. fig. as one of the pains of Hell (Mark ix. 48,
Isa. lxvi. 24).
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark ix. 48 Aworpen on helle fyr, þar hyra wyrm ne swylt. c 1275 Sinners Beware 53 in O.E. Misc. 73 Þe wurmes..Þat doþ þe saule teone. a 1340 Hampole Psalter i. 1 Þe saule thurgh assent gets þe worme þ{supt} neuer sall dye. 1547 Becon Agst. Whoredom iii. in Homilies i. R iv b, The worme, that shall there gnawe the conscience of the dampned, shall neuer dye. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 230 As to the other Fate of Books, it is to be feared these feed their Authors never dying Worme. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 739 Driven down To chains of Darkness, and th' undying Worm. |
c. worm's or worms' meat, said of a man's dead body, or of man as mortal. Also
† worms' food or worms' ware;
food or meat for (or † to) worms.
| [a 1000 Soul & Body 127 Lic..bið þonne wyrmes ᵹiefl. a 1023 Wulfstan Hom. xxx. 145 We syndon deadlice menn and to duste sceolon on worulde wurðan wurmum to æte.] |
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 276 Ne schalt tu beon wurmes fode? c 1230 Hali Meid. (1922) 59 Þat lam & wurmene mete. 1340 Ayenb. 216 Saint bernard zayþ huet is man bote uelþe..wermene mete [esca vermium]? Ibid., He is..mete to wermes ine his dyaþe. c 1400 Pety Job 7 in 26 Pol. Poems 121, I shalbe wormes ware. 1411–12 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1087 It is to gret an abusioun, To seen a man, þat is but wormes mete, Desire riches. 1561 B. Googe tr. Palingenius' Zodiac vi. Q j b, To day with myrthe alyue, and foode to wormes within a whyle. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. i. 112 They haue made wormes meat of me. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1671) 235 Fear not clay and worm's meat. 1675 Cocker Morals 45 Poor Worms-meat, Soar not to the hight of State. 1677 Otway Cheats of Scapin ii, By Heaven, he shall be Worms-meat within these two hours. |
7. † a. A tick or mite breeding in the hand, foot, or other part of the body.
Obs. See also
handworm,
nose-worm (
nose n. 18),
wheal-worm (
wheal n.1 b), ring-worm,
dew-worm (
etym. note).
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 124 Ᵹif wyrm hand ete. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §47 There be some shepe, that hath a worme in his foote, that maketh hym halte. 1530 Palsgr. 290/2 Worme in the hand, ciron. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 49 A litle blayne, a small cutte, yea a silie poore worme in his finger, may kepe him from shoting wel ynough. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iv. 65 Her Waggoner, a small gray-coated Gnat, not halfe so bigge as a round little Worme, prickt from the Lazie-finger of a man [Qo. 1 maide]. 1605 P. Erondelle Fr. Gard. G 7 b, His knees are very round, he hath a worme at the right knee. |
† b. fig. or
allusively.
Obs.| 1577 Grange Golden Aphrod. K iv b, To picke a worme betweene two forked fingers [i.e. to make horns: cf. Cotgrave s.v. Ciron]. 1604 ? Dekker Newes fr. Grauesend Ep. Ded. in Plague Pamphlets (1925) 67 Strange fashions did I pick (like wormes) out of the fingers of euery Nation. |
c. popularly = comedo.
| 1730 Swift Lady's Dressing Room 64 A Glass that can to Sight disclose The smallest Worm in Cælia's Nose, And faithfully direct her Nail, To squeeze it out from Head to Tail. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 752 It is also known as grub, worm, black-head, or ‘waster’. |
8. An earthworm, or a larva (see 3, 5 above).
a. as the food of birds.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 601 Ac wat etestu..Bute attercoppe and fule uliȝe, An wormes, ȝif þu miȝte finde Among þe uolde of harde rinde? c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 326 The foules smale That eten as that nature wolde enclyne, As worme, or thynge of whiche I tel no tale. c 1386 ― Sqr.'s T. 609 And to the wode he wole and wormes ete. c 1480 Henryson Cock & Jewel 94, I had leuer haif scrapit heir with my naillis Amangis this mow, and luke my lyfis fude, As draf, or corne, small wormis or snaillis. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. ii. 32 How will you liue? Son. As Birds do Mother. Wife. What with Wormes, and Flyes? 1670 Ray Prov. 84 The early bird catcheth the worm. 1815 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. IX. i. 18 The old birds feed them with small worms, caterpillars and insects. 1836 [Hooton] Bilberry Thurland III. 195 As brisk as a robin wi' worms. 1864 Browning Dram. Pers., Caliban 51 The pie with the long tongue That pricks deep into oakwarts for a worm. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. vi, As the early bird catches the worm. |
b. as bait for fish.
Also with defining term prefixed, as
caddis,
dew,
dug,
lob,
lug,
red, etc.: see these words.
| c 1320 Cast. Love 1129 As fisch þat is w{supt} hok inomen, Þat whon þe worm he swoleweþ alast, He is bi þe hok itiȝed fast. 1510 Stanbridge Vocabula (W. de W.) D j, Lumbrex, a worme or an angle twache. 1566 Nottingham Rec. IV. 130 Diggyng dovne the comon dycke..for gettyng of wormes. 1604 Shakes. Ham. iv. iii. 28 (Qo. 2) A man may fish with the worme that hath eate of a King, and eate of the fish that hath fedde of that worme. 1622–34 Peacham Compl. Gent. xx. (1906) 258 For your live baits they are wormes of all kinds, especially the red worme. 1657 T. Barker Barker's Delight (1659) 41 For the Barbell, I have taken great ones in Ware river with wormes, for I know no better bait than wormes. 1806 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Tristia, Elegy Donithorne 6 Patient as men, upon the river's side, Who for a dinner throw the worm or fly. |
| collect. sing. 1909 W. C. Platts Light Lines 82 There may be no particular skill required in catching a few trout with worm in coloured water. |
c. In
colloq. phr. (to open) a can of worms, (to address) a complex and largely unexamined problem or state of affairs the investigation of which is likely to cause much trouble or scandal.
| 1962 Times 21 Feb. 12/4 He..knew that he had opened the bidding on what is sometimes called ‘a can of worms’. 1969 N. Dakota Law Rev. XLV. 215 Counsel can..better comprehend..the domestic can-of-worms that appears in so many delinquency and neglect cases. 1973 Times 22 May 16/5 Mr Berger has opened, in the old American phrase, a fine can of worms. He is suggesting that an impeached President, should he be found guilty, could appeal to the Supreme Court. 1976 L. Bernstein Unanswered Question vi. 418 There are so many of those ‘underlying strings’..waiting to be tied up; so many cans of worms have been opened, and a lot of those slippery little beasts are still wriggling around. 1984 A. Price Sion Crossing vii. 137 Oliver isn't up to this sort of thing. And this is my can of worms. |
9. A name for various long slender crustaceans and molluscs (
e.g. Teredo navalis, the ship-worm) which destroy timber by boring. Also
collect. the worm, as a destructive pest.
Formerly supposed to be a grub or larva:
cf. 5 b and
Teredo. See also
ship-worm (
ship n.1 9 b),
† tree-worm.
| 1621 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) 314 She being a new shipp, onely spoyled with the worme. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 7 Securing the Hulls of his Majesties Ships against the Worm. 1774 E. Long Jamaica III. 740 This tree..having been found to stand the sea-water very well, uncorroded by..the worm, which is not able to penetrate it. 1864 Browning J. Lee's Wife ii. iii, Some ships, safe in port indeed, Rot and rust, Run to dust, All through worms i' the wood. |
II. 10. fig. a. A human being likened to a worm or reptile as an object of contempt, scorn, or pity; an abject, miserable creature.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xxi. 7 Ic soðlice eam wyrm [vermis] & nales mon. c 1200 Ormin 4870 Icc amm an wurrm, & nohht nan mann. 1340 Ayenb. 215 Ich am, he zede, a lite werm, and no man. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) Pref. 1 In þat land he wald..suffer hard passioun and dede of þe Iews for vs synfull wormes. 1402 Friar Daw in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 45 Sith that wickide worme, Wiclyf be his name, began to sowe the seed of cisme in the erthe. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. iv. 67, I am þi most poure seruaunt, and an abiecte worme. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. xiii. §2 O Clinias,..the wickedest worme that euer went vpon two legges. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 87 Pist. Vilde worme, thou wast orelook'd euen in thy birth. 1623 Massinger Dk. Millaine iii. ii. G 4 b, If I am dull now, may I liue and dye The scorne of wormes & slaues. a 1662 Duppa Rules & Helps Devot. i. (1675) 26 A Dignity that raiseth us poor Worms of the Earth to a kind of equality with the Angels themselves. 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 258 All this dread Order break—for whom? for thee? Vile worm! 1859 Tennyson Enid 213 He, from his exceeding manfulness.., Wroth to be wroth at such a worm. 1864 Trollope Small House at Allington xxvii, Poor reptile; wretched worm of a man! 1882 Besant All Sorts vii. (1898) 67 The meanest amongst us poor worms of earth. 1926 Introduction to Sally iv. 51 In the presence of her loveliness, what a mere mincing worm he was. |
b. Similarly
the son of a worm (after Job xvii. 14).
| 1633 Shirley Gamester ii. (1637) D 1, He that affronts Me, is the sonne of a Worme, and his father a Whoore. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 3 Man, who is a worm, and the son of a worm. |
† c. With qualification expressing tenderness, playfulness, or commiseration: A human being, ‘creature’.
Obs. (In 16th c.
esp. loving worm.)
Cf. G.
das arme wurm, applied to a child.
| a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. ii. (Arb.) 41 Yea and he is as louing a worme againe as a doue. 1561 Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtier ii. R ij, Thus bicause they woulde bee counted to louynge woormes, they make menne counte them lyars, and fonde flatterers. 1568 U. Fulwell Like will to Like A ij b, Yet are women kinde wormes I dare wel say. 1593 G. Harvey Pierces Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 247 Apuleius Asse was..a cunning Ape, a loouing worme. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. i. 31 Poore worme thou art infected. a 1625 Fletcher M. Thomas i. i, Val. How does his father? Hyl. As mad a worm as e'er he was. 1626 B. Jonson Staple of Newes v. iii, There hee sits like an old worme of the peace. |
† d. Used, like
caterpillar n. 2, for: One who preys on society.
Obs.| 1591 Greene Notable Disc. Coosnage Wks. (Grosart) X. 30 The seruing-man sent with his Lordes treasure, loseth ofttimes most part to these worms of the commonwelth. 1633 Costlie Whore v. i. in Bullen O. Pl. IV. 296 Lords, see these wormes of kingdomes be destroyed. [Cf. 295 ante the catterpillers of the state.] |
e. slang. A policeman.
| 1865 Slang Dict. 272 Worm, the latest Slang term for a policeman. |
11. fig. a. A grief or passion that preys stealthily on a man's heart or torments his conscience (like a worm in a dead body or a maggot in food);
esp. the gnawing pain of remorse.
Cf. cankerworm 2.
Sometimes ‘the worm that never dies’ (as in 6 b).
| a 900 Andreas 769 Brandhata nið weoll on ᵹewitte, weorm blædum faᵹ. c 1386 Chaucer Doctor's T. 280 The worm of conscience. 1560 Nice Wanton 281 (Manly) The worme of my conscience, that shall neuer dye, Accuseth me dayly more and more. 1578 H. Wotton Courtlie Controv. 143 Euery man read easily in his face..that some secret worme gnawed vpon his accustomed ioy. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iii. 222 The Worme of Conscience still begnaw thy Soule. 1623–4 Middleton & Rowley Changeling iii. iv, 'Twil hardly buy a capcase for ones conscience tho To keep it from the worm. 1727 Pope To Mr. John Moore vii, Their Conscience is a Worm within, That gnaws them Night and Day. 1753 Smollett Ct. Fathom xlv, While in this manner he secretly nursed the worm of grief that preyed upon his vitals. 1813 Byron Br. Abydos ii. xxvii, And, oh! that pang where more than madness lies! The worm that will not sleep—and never dies. 1826 Hazlitt Plain Speaker x. Wks. 1903 VII. 106 We secretly persuade ourselves that there is no such thing as excellence. It is that which we hate above all things. It is the worm that gnaws us, that never dies. a 1865 J. Gibson in T. Matthews Biog. (1911) 56 Nor did I feel the worm of envy creeping round my heart whenever I saw..a beautiful idea skilfully executed by any of my young rivals. |
† b. A whim or ‘maggot’ in the brain; a perverse fancy or desire; a streak of madness or insanity. Often
wild worm (
cf. 2).
Obs. (So G.
wurm.)
| a 1500 H. Medwall Nature ii. 307 (Brandl) The wylde worm ys com into hys hed, So that by reason only he ys led. a 1530 J. Heywood Play of Love 678 (Brandl) Our louer, in whose hed By a frantyke worm his opinion is bred. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V 44 Some private Scorpion in your heartes or some wild worme in your heades hath caused you to conspire my death and confusion. Ibid., 3 Rich. III 42 The wilde worme of vengaunce wauerynge in his hed. 1606 Chapman Gent. Usher v. iv. 50 But a father Would rather eate the brawne out of his armes Then glut the mad worme of his wilde desires With his deare issues entrailes. 1623 Massinger Dk. Millaine v. i. L 2 And if I now out-strip him not, and catch him,..hereafter I'le sweare there are wormes in my braines. 1653 D. Osborne Lett. (1888) 84 Lest you should think I have as many worms in my head as he. 1674 Rymer Rapin's Aristotle's Poesie 47 The Emperor Nero who had the Worm in his Head, and conceited himself a Wit. 1678 Ray Prov. (ed. 2) 278 He has a worm in 's brain. 1705 Hearne Collect. 26 Nov. (O.H.S.) I. 100 He presently after laid it aside, by reason the worm (w{supt}{suph} w{supc}{suph} he is possessed) mov'd in his head another way. |
† c. greedy worm (
cf. 13): avarice or greediness as an itching passion in the heart.
Obs.| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas iii. 4251 Auarise, to al vertu contraire, The gredi werm, the serpent vnstaunchable. 1587 Holinshed Chron. III. 137/1 Thus we see..what occasion the emperour and duke did take, to inrich themselves by the meanes of the king, whome they forced not to impoverish, so their owne greedie worme were serued. 1607 Beaum. & Fl., Woman-Hater i. iii, He is of good wit, and sufficient understanding, when he is not troubled with this greedy worm. |
12. the worm: formerly a popular name for various ailments supposed to be caused by the working of a ‘worm’, or resulting in a worm-shaped tumour or growth.
† a. Colic.
Sc. Obs.| c 1500 Roule's Cursing 57 in Maitland Fo. (1919) 163 The worme, the wareit vedumfa [= wedenonfa']. c 1633 Sir A. Johnston (Ld. Wariston) Diary (S.H.S.) I. 12 That Sunday..schoe took the worme at midnight, begoud to cast, and so contineued al Mononday. 1654 Ibid. II. 275, I heard after sermon of M. W. G. haiving the worme, and not being able to com to the kirk al the Saboth. |
b. Toothache.
Sc. ?
Obs. Cf. Shakes. Much Ado iii. ii. 27.
| a 1583 Montgomerie Flyting 301 (Tullibard. MS.) The choikis, the charbunkill, with þe wormis in thy cheikis. 1673 Wedderburn Vocab. 20 (Jam.) Laborat dolore dentium, he hath the worm. 1881 W. Gregor Folk-Lore N.E. Scot. x. 48 It was a common belief that toothache was caused by a worm at the root of the tooth, and toothache was often simply called ‘the worm’. 1890 Service Thir Notandums vii. 44 The auld man was girnin' wi' the worm. |
† c. ? An abscess or swelling thought to resemble a worm in shape.
Obs.| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 336 If a Horse do labor in that kinde of impostume which they vulgarly call the Worm, either any where as well as in the nose, they do open the skin with a searing iron. |
III. 13. a. A small vermiform ligament or tendon in a dog's tongue, often cut out when the animal is young, as a supposed safeguard against rabies;
= lytta.
Also
† greedy worm or
† hungry worm: see
greedy 1 d,
hungry 4.
| 1530, 1585, 1627 [see greedy 1 d]. 1538 Elyot Dict., Lytta, a worme in a dogges tongue. 1589 Nashe Pasquil's Ret. Wks. (Grosart) I. 113 Full of play like a wanton whelpe whose worme was not taken out of his tongue. 1654 C. Wase Gratius' Cyneget. B 8 b, Where the tongue is with fast tendons bound, The fury (call'd a worme) is thence convey'd. 1737 [see hungry 4]. 1868 R. Owen Anat. Vertebr. III. 197 The long cylindrical fibrous body..called ‘lytta’, and in Dogs, where it attains its largest size, ‘the worm’. |
| fig. 1599 Broughton's Lett. i. 6 Your worme from your youth hath been a proud conceit of your self, which, being nourished vnder your tongue so long, makes it now runne riot. |
b. A tendon in a dog's tail, often cut or pulled out when the tail is being docked.
| 1877 G. Stables Pract. Kennel Guide 141 There is no earthly occasion for pulling out the nerve or ‘worm’ as it is called. |
14. Used to render L. anatomical terms.
† a. The epididymis (see
quot. and
cf. wormy a. 2).
Obs.| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde i. xi. (1552) 23 Thys parte of the sede cariars may be called the worme: in latyn, Corpus lumbricosum: for because that it hath many conuolutions as wormes lyinge togeather haue. |
b. The median lobe of the cerebellum; the
vermis or vermiform process.
| 1857 Dunglison Med. Lex. 1899 Syd. Soc. Lex. |
15. a. An artificial or natural object resembling an earthworm.
| 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3858/4 A small Picture of a Man in Armour, set in Gold in a Shagrin Case, 2 little Gold Worms on each side the Picture. 1894 K. Grahame Pagan Papers 129 The drippings made worms of wet in the thick dust of the road. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 1 Jan. 7/2 The ‘worm’ of the Somerset Light Infantry..is a black thread woven into the gold lace on the officers' sleeves. |
b. pl. The coiled pods of
Astragalus hamosus.
| 1849 Gardeners' Chron. 3 Feb. 96 Vegetable and Flower Seeds..Hedgehogs per paper 0s. 3d...Snails 0s. 3d...Worms 0s. 3d. 1902 L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Hort. 1990 Under the name of ‘Worms,’ ‘Snails’ and ‘Caterpillars,’ various odd fruits of leguminous plants are grown as curiosities... Astragalus hamosus..is the one usually known as ‘Worms’. |
16. Used as the name of various implements of spiral form. (Supposed to resemble the sinuous shape and movement of an earthworm.)
† a. The screw of a screw-press.
Obs.| 1548 Elyot's Dict., Cochlea,..the vice or wourme of a presse. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus. |
b. A double or single screw fixed on the end of a rod, used for withdrawing the charge or wad from a muzzle-loading gun.
| 1591 G. Clayton Mart. Discipl. 17 Euery Souldiour to haue a sufficient Caliuer,..rammer, worme [etc.]. ? 1594 Barwick Disc. Weapons 8 His scrues and wormes to serue all for his skowring sticke. 1600–1 Churchw. Acc. E. Budleigh (Brushfield 1894) 19 P{supd}..the makinge cleane of the musketts and for a worme and scowerer. 1703 La Hontan's Voy. N. Amer. I. 132 My Men began..to unload their Pieces with Worms, in order to charge 'em afresh. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4455/4 Fine Triangle Worms..experienc'd for drawing of Balls out of Pieces, with Scowerers and Washers to them, made either to screw upon the Rod with a Socket, or to pin on. 1774 Pennsylv. Gaz. 9 Feb. Suppl. 2/3 Best double worm, box handle, single worm, ash handle. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 4 What is the use of the worm? To draw the gun after loading. |
c. A sharp-pointed spiral tool, used for boring wood or soft stone; an auger or gimlet, or the screw of such a tool.
local.
| 1594 Plat Jewel-ho. ii. 28 If there happen to bee any quarrie of soft stone betweene him and the marle: he must firste make his entrance thorough the stone with a piercing worme. 1812 [see screw n.1 5]. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Worm 6. 1886 Cheshire Gloss., Worm, a gimlet. |
d. The thread or spiral ridge of a male screw.
| 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. ii. 31 The Rules and manner of cutting Worms upon great Screws. The Threds of Screws when they are bigger than can be made in Screw-plates are called Wormes. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 321/2 The Screw-Pin (of a vice) is cut with a square strong Worm or Thred. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 12/2 If these Rings or this Worm be..cut in too near to the centre of the Skrew, the weight will then be moved by shorter Leavers. 1750 T. R. Blanckley Nav. Expositor 143 Screws for Hatches, are made with a very nice Worm, that works in a Nutt let into a Sort of Drum-head. 1773 W. Emerson Princ. Mech. (ed. 3) 42 The endless or perpetual screw AB, having one worm, leaf, or tooth, which drives the teeth of the wheel CD. 1802 Trans. Soc. Arts XX. 254 He..made the thread of the worm too fine. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 152 Fly-screws and others having several worms. 1884 Longm. Mag. Mar. 488 The inner end of the spoke has a worm cut upon it and is screwed into a solid metal centre, or hub. |
e. A spiral channel cut in a hollow cylinder to correspond to the ridge of a screw which turns in it; the spiral of a female or hollow screw.
| 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Reservatory, Each Pipe is three foot and a half long, and there are Bridles at each end of them, which are join'd and closed together by Screws and Worms. 1835 Brit. Cycl. Arts & Sci. II. 357/1 In the head is fixed a metal nut, containing a worm or hollow screw. The worm is adapted to receive the screw by which the pressure is produced. 1875 Fortnum Maiolica vi. 52 Some of these pieces have a stopper fitting into the neck by a screw, the worm of which is worked upon it by means of a piece of wood formed with projecting teeth, the interior of the neck being furnished with a corresponding worm. 1878 ‘H. Collingwood’ Secr. Sands iii, In either end of each length was inserted a narrow band of metal thick enough to allow of a worm and screw, so that all the lengths of each cylinder could be screwed together perfectly water-tight. |
f. The spiral of a corkscrew; also, the corkscrew as a whole.
local.
| 1681 Grew Musæum iii. §i. v. 303 A Steel Worme used for the drawing of Corks out of Bottles. 1702 Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1367 A close spiral revolution like the Worm of a Bottle Screw. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Worm,..The spiral of a cork-screw. 1887 Kentish Gloss., Worm, a corkscrew. |
g. An endless or tangent screw the thread of which gears with the teeth of a toothed wheel (or similar device).
| 1729 Desaguliers in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 197 Where Goods are to be rais'd high,..then an endless Screw turn'd by an Handle at each End..leading an Axis in Peritrochio, or as it is commonly call'd, a Worm and Wheel applied to a Crane, with a Gibbet, is most useful. 1855 Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil., Hydrostatics etc. §145 This wheel revolves on an axis, upon which there is a worm or endless screw. 1863 Smiles Industr. Biogr. xv. 293 The plan he adopted was to fix a worm-wheel on the side of the ladle, into which a worm was geared. 1904 Mecredy Dict. Motoring 129 Worms were formerly cut on a lathe, and the wheels in a gear-cutting machine in the usual way, the teeth being set diagonally to match the angle of the worm. |
h. A long spiral or coiled tube connected with the head of a still, in which the vapour is condensed.
| 1641 French Distill. i. (1651) 25 Put it into a Copper Still with a worme. 1682 Lond. Gaz. No, 1686/4 Six Backs, several Stills and Worms. 1757 A. Cooper Distiller i. (1760) 2 A subsequent Treatment of the fermented Liquor by the Alembick, or hot Still, with its proper Worm and Refrigeratory. 1885 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Prophet Gt. Smoky Mts. xv, They..cut the tubs and still to pieces, destroyed the worm, demolished the furnace. 1887 Manch. Exhib. Catal. 239 Samples of Whisky. Model Still and Worm. |
i. A spiral heating flue in a furnace or coiled steam pipe in a boiler.
| 1758 [Dossie] Elaboratory Laid Open 9 Another great error in the building furnaces, particularly those for harts⁓horn pots, or sand-pots, is the carrying the fire round the object, to be heated, in a vermicular flew, or worm (as it is commonly called);..as the principal force of the fire is exercised on that great mass of brickwork, which forms the worm. 1766 Museum Rust. VI. 299 They [sc. two caldrons] may be set in the open fire, without any flew or worm round them, in an oven-like furnace. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. 371 The steam is either admitted into the copper by a perforated pipe, or it is made to circulate within it through a closed coil or worm. |
j. A spring or strip of metal of spiral shape.
| 1724 Lond. Gaz. No. 6318/2 A Steel Worm or Rowling Spring,..to be used in hanging of Coaches. 1840 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 172/2 The cutting instrument..performs its operations with wonderful precision, frequently cutting a large and continuous shaving of thirty or forty feet in length..which, curling up, forms a curious and perfect worm or screw. |
IV. 17. attrib. and
Comb. a. gen., as
wormfinger,
worm-kind,
worm-tribe; objective, as
worm-breeding adj.; instrumental, as
worm-cankered,
worm-chewed,
worm-consumed,
worm-gnawed,
worm-gnawn,
worm-laid,
worm-spun,
worm-worn adjs.; dative, as
worm-reserved,
worm-ripe; parasynthetic, as
worm-faced,
worm-shaped adjs.| 1611 Florio, Vermifero, *worme-breeding. |
| 1830 Tennyson Sonn. to J. M. K. 6 Thou art no sabbath-drawler of old saws, Distill'd from some *worm-canker'd homily. |
| 1927 D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico 28 Rattling the *worm-chewed window-frames. |
| 1612 J. Davies (Heref.) Muses Sacrif. Wks. (Grosart) II. 65/1 The *Worme-consumèd Corse. |
| 1934 Dylan Thomas Let. 12 Apr. (1966) 105 Avaunt, you *worm-faced fellows of the night. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 550 Jogging, mocks them with thumb and wriggling *wormfingers. |
| 1793 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Epistle to the Pope 76 The wise Parisians mock her *worm-gnaw'd shrine. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 491 Th' old, rusty, mouldy, *worm-gnawn words of yore. |
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VIII. 166 Animals of the *worm kind..being entirely destitute of feet. |
| 1933 C. S. Lewis Pilgrim's Regress 248 Once the *worm-laid egg broke the wood. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Vermiformes, two *worme-resembling parts of the Cervelet. |
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 176, I am the vnworthiest of all *worme-reserued wretches. |
| 1893 ‘Q’ (Quiller Couch) Delect. Duchy 117 A glance up at the *worm-riddled rafters. |
| 1893 J. Strong New Era xi. 247 This morbid, *worm-ripe piety, once in favor. |
| 1767 Phil. Trans. LVII. 430 When it is extended, it is of a *worm-shaped figure. 1870 P. M. Duncan Blanchard's Transf. Insects 384 The larvæ are worm-shaped. 1922 The Enchanted April ix. 138 Mrs. Fisher had never cared for maccaroni, especially not this long, worm-shaped variety. |
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 214 Though we glister it neuer so in our *worme-spunne robes. |
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VIII. 5 This may serve to distinguish them [sc. caterpillars] from the *worm tribe. |
| 1820 Praed Eve of Battle 119 Sleep, in Honour's *worm-worn bed. 1828 Lytton Pelham lxiii, Worm-worn volumes. |
b. In sense 8 b, as
worm-bag,
worm-bait,
worm farm,
worm-hook,
† worm-poke,
worm-tackle,
worm-tin;
worm-bobber,
worm-catcher,
worm-catching,
worm-fisher,
worm-fishing,
worm-hunter,
worm-hunting;
† worm-embowelled adj.| 1909 W. C. Platts Light Lines 83 Scudding across the meadows, with his rod and his *worm-bag, to the river. |
| 1842 G. P. R. Pulman Rustic Sk. 48 On the Axe the only kind of *worm-bait used is the blackhead or bluehead. |
| 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & Widows i. 11 He is a mere *worm-bobber—cannot throw a fly or spin a minnow. |
| 1880 F. Buckland Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes 11 A short gentleman, like you, sir,..would never make a *worm-catcher. |
| 1881 Athenæum 30 Apr. 594/2 Mr. Wells offered to back against Frank Buckland a long-legged and long-armed friend..on any night at *worm-catching. |
| 1608 Day Hum. out of Breath i. [ii.] B 3 b, And see if any siluer-coated fish Will nibble at your *worme-emboweld hooks. |
| 1880 F. Buckland Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes 10 A *worm farm at Nottingham. |
| 1847 Stoddart Angler's Comp. 115 The *worm-fisher ought..always to possess a stock of it [hart's-horn moss]. 1904 W. M. Gallichan Fishing Spain 64 The worm fisher has his opportunity when the streams are in spate. |
| 1842 G. P. R. Pulman Rustic Sk. 48 *Worm-fishing is followed with greatest success..during the season of mowing grass. 1857 W. C. Stewart Pract. Angler vii. (ed. 3) 133 Fly-fishers are apt to sneer at worm-fishing. |
| 1747 Bowlker Art Angling 64 This is a very large Fly, and is to be made upon a small *Worm-hook. 1837 J. Kirkbride North. Angler 12 In Carlisle..we speak of..large worm, middle, and small worm hooks. |
| 1865 A. S. Moffat Secr. Angling 165 If the *worm-hunter only takes care to tread softly upon the bosom of his mother earth. 1890 Science-Gossip XXVI. 159 The worm-hunter will turn over every likely stone or rubbish heap which comes in his path. |
| 1852 Zoologist X. 3421 He employed himself in this *worm-hunting for a considerable time. |
| ? 1630 W. Lauson Comm. on J. Dennys Secr. Angling Note 13 *Worme poake of cloath. |
| 1835 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. Jan. 390/3 First of all, the *worm-tackle. For this, sizeable hooks..are generally preferred. 1847 Stoddart Angler's Comp. 108 In preparing worm-tackle. |
| 1906 Macm. Mag. Apr. 417 The rod, basket, and..the *worm-tin. |
c. In sense 4, as
worm-colic,
worm-disease,
worm-fever,
worm-sickness; also in names of remedies, as
worm-cake,
worm-lozenge,
worm-medicine,
worm-powder,
worm-preventive,
worm-syrup,
worm-tea; also
worm-killing adj.| 1773 Pennsylv. Gaz. 23 June, Suppl. 2/3 His never failing *worm cake, which destroys that vermin so pernicious to children. 1788 J. Hurdis Village Curate (1797) 102 His worm-cake and his pills. |
| 1810 James Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), *Worm-cholic, a distemper in horses, occasioned by broad, thick, and short worms or truncheons. |
| 1848 Dunglison Med. Lex. (ed. 7), Helminthiasis, *worm disease. |
| 1792 J. Townsend Journ. Spain II. Index, *Worm fever. 1899 Syd. Soc. Lex., Worm fever, pyrexia consequent on the irritation set up by intestinal worms. |
| 1763 Foote Mayor of G. i. Wks. 1799 I. 164 You..*worm-killing, blistering, glistering ―. |
| 1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage i. xxvii, If Mary had taken some of her nice *worm-lozenges. 1889 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VIII. 2/1 The popular ‘worm lozenges’. |
| 1702 J. Purcell Cholick (1714) 177 Two Girls..were seized with most violent Cholicks,..which no Clysters, Purges or *Worm Medicines could appease. 1799 Med. Jrnl. II. 151 Recommenders of some newly-broached worm-medicines. |
| 1727 Pope in Miscellanies, To Mr. John Moore, Author of the celebrated *Worm-Powder. |
| 1880 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. 447 The *worm-preventives are medicines which give tone to the intestinal membrane. |
| 1899 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Worm-sickness, a severe disease occurring among sheep in Holland, set up by the fly Lucilia sericata. |
| 1773 Pennsylv. Gaz. 30 June 3/3 A new invented *Worm-Syrup. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 27/2 Worm syrup..for expelling worms from children. 1972 E. Wigginton Foxfire Bk. 247 Take ‘worm syrup’ which is made by boiling Jerusalem oak and pine root together. |
| 1850 Pereira Elem. Mat. Med. (ed. 3) II. 1478 A preparation kept in the shops of the United States, and much prescribed by physicians, under the name of *worm tea, consists of spigelia root, senna, manna, and savine, mixed together. |
d. In sense 16 g, as
worm-drive,
worm-gear,
worm-gearing,
worm-jack,
worm-pinion,
worm-rack,
worm-screw,
worm-shaft,
worm-spindle,
worm-thread,
worm-wheel;
worm-geared adj.| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 19 Nov. 4/2 This machine..retains..the silent *worm-drive. |
| 1884 B'ham Daily Post 24 Jan. 3/1 Wanted, 10 ton Foundry Ladle, extra strong, with *worm gear. |
| 1936 Discovery Aug. 238/2 It [sc. the camera] is loaded into position on the plane with a *worm-geared winch and pulley system. 1973 Gloss. Terms Materials Handling (B.S.I.) VI. 16 Worm geared chain pulley block,..mechanical advantage is obtained chiefly by..use of a worm wheel and worm. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech., Suppl., *Worm Gearing..has an arrangement for transmitting circular motion in either direction. 1904 Mecredy Dict. Motoring 128 Worm gearing is used in the steering apparatus for adjustments. |
| 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. iii. 37 Fig. 1. is call'd a *Worm-Jack. |
| 1913 F. Young & Aston Complete Motorist (ed. 8) 177 A worm-driven axle with the *worm pinion underneath. |
| 1891 Century Dict., *Worm-rack, a rack gearing with a worm-wheel. |
| 1677 Flamsteed in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 172 To this a toothed arch was fastened, by the help of which, and a *worm screw, the piece of wood..might be raised or depressed easily. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 228 The toothed wheel, acted on by the worm-screw. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 391 The mechanical power is a central worm screw working in four racks on pillars. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 372 Screws or *worm-shafts, which are placed so as to keep the carriage parallel to the drawing rollers [in a spinning-mule]. |
| 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. iii. 45 That the Teeth of the Worm wheel may gather themselves into the Grooves of the Worm in the *Worm-spindle. 1773 W. Emerson Princ. Mech. (ed. 3) 43 All things here laid down relating to the perpetual screw, do suppose that the axis of the worm-spindle lies in the plane of the wheel it works in. |
| 1925 Chamb. Jrnl. May 332/2 The *worm-thread and the teeth in the strip are square and of great strength. 1677 *worm-wheel [see worm-spindle]. 1842 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. V. 73/1 A vertical shaft, on the bottom of which is a worm, taking into a worm-wheel. 1925 Chamb. Jrnl. May 332/1 An ideal clip for hose connections..based on the worm and worm-wheel principle. |
e. In sense 16 h and similar applications, as
worm-cooler,
worm-maker,
worm-pipe,
worm refrigeratory,
worm-safe,
worm-tank,
worm-tub.
| 1812 Ann. Reg., Chron. 35 A large *worm cooler, which contained nearly 60,000 gallons of water. |
| 1793–4 Matthews's Bristol Directory 31 Pewterers, *Worm-makers, and Copper-smiths. |
| 1850 Patent in Law Times Rep. X. 861/1 The coal is..put into a common gas retort, to which is attached a *worm pipe passing through a refrigerator. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 6 A clean copper still, furnished with a capital and *worm-refrigeratory. |
| 1853 Ibid. (ed. 4) I. 594 The *worm-safe..is a contrivance for permitting the distiller to observe and note at any period of the distillation the alcholic strength or specific gravity of his spirits, without access to the still. |
| 1860 Gesner Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865) 79 The worm is..fastened securely by iron stays into the *worm tank. |
| 1756 P. Browne Jamaica (1789) 158 Barbadoes Cedar..is..frequently made into *worm-tubs. 1757 A. Cooper Distiller i. xvi. (1760) 74 Another Requisite to be observed is that the Water in the Worm-tub be kept cool. 1880 Act 43 & 44 Vict. c. 24 §143 (1) An officer may require a distiller..to cause the water in any worm tub..to be drawn off. |
f. Special combinations:
worm-bark, the anthelmintic bark of the West Indian cabbage-tree,
Andira inermis;
worm-burrow, the hole made by a worm in the earth; a fossil perforation of this sort;
worm-cast, the convoluted mass of mould thrown up by an earthworm on the surface of the soil after passing through the worm's body; so
worm-casting;
worm-conveyor (see
quot. 1910 and
conveyor 4 b);
† worm-earth = worm-cast;
worm-fence U.S. = snake-fence;
† worm-fowl,
collect. birds that feed on worms;
† worm-fret a. [
fret,
obs. pa. pple. of
fret v.
1], worm-eaten;
worm-killer, a preparation for destroying garden worms;
† worm line, a spiral;
worm month Sc. and
N. Ir., July (or the second half of July and first half of August);
cf. Da. ormemaaned;
worm-oil = wormseed oil;
worm pipe-fish,
Syngnathus (
Nerophis)
lumbriciformis;
worm red a., ? dull brownish red; also
n.;
worm-shell, the twisted shell or tube of a marine annelid or mollusc, as
Serpula and
Vermetus; also applied to the animal itself;
worm-snake, a name for various small harmless snakes, as
Typhlops nigrescens and
Carphophis amoena;
worm-spring, a spiral spring;
† worm-state, the larval stage in insect transformation;
† worm-stone, a spirally-twisted fossil;
† worm-tongued a. (see sense 10);
worm-track = helminthite;
worm-tube = worm-shell;
worm-web Sc., a cobweb;
† worm-work, ? a winding earthwork.
| c 1791 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VII. 631/2 Geoffræa,..also called the *worm-bark tree. 1860 Mayne Expos. Lex., Worm-Bark,..the bark of the Geoffræa Surinamensis. |
| 1859 Page Geol. Terms, Arenicolites,..those circular holes..which appear..on the upper surface of many sandstones, and which seem to have been *worm-burrows. 1883 Science I. 520/2 The more slender side-roots descend chiefly through worm-burrows. 1914 Brit. Mus. Return 213 One worm-burrow from the Cambrian of Bray Head. |
| 1766 Complete Farmers s.v. Walk, Which will be of service to prevent weeds from growing through the gravel, and to hinder *worm-casts. 1862 Chambers' Encycl. III. 740/2 (Earthworm) Worm-casts gradually accumulate on the surface to form a layer of the very finest soil. |
| 1881 Darwin Veg. Mould 10 On such grassy paths *worm-castings may often be seen. |
| 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iii. 439/1 From the stones it [sc. crushed slag] passes through a *worm conveyer to a brick⁓press. 1910 Encycl. Brit. VII. 53 The worm conveyor, also known as the Archimedean screw,..consists of a continuous or broken blade screw set on a spindle. This spindle is made to revolve in a suitable trough, and as it revolves any material put in is propelled by the screw from one end of the trough to the other. |
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 2 *Worm-earths also abound most in the richest land. |
| 1796 F. Baily Jrnl. Tour N. Amer. (1856) 111 They place split logs angular-wise on each other making what they call a ‘*worm-fence’ and which is raised about five feet high. 1833 T. Hamilton Men & Manners Amer. (1843) 149 The worm fences and the freshness and regularity of the houses are sadly destructive of the picturesque. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes xiv, The primitive worm-fence is universal, and an ugly thing it is. |
| c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 505, I..wol sey my veyrdit..For watir foule... And I for *worme foule, seyde the foole cukkowe. |
| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. 6566 *Wermfrete stokkes. |
| 1915 H. H. Thomas Gardening for Amateurs I. 22/1 Proprietary *worm-killers can also be obtained, and these must always be employed as directed. 1959 Times 7 Mar. 9/1 There are always the lead arsenate wormkillers. |
| 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. A iiij b, An other sorte of lines is there, that is called a spirall line, or a *worm line, whiche representeth an apparant forme of many circles, where there is not one in dede. |
| 1782 J. Ramsay in Allardyce Scot. & Scotsmen 18th C. (1888) II. 256 It looked like February than the *worm month. 1825 Jamieson, Worm-month..the month of July, Perths{ddd}from the hatching of many kinds of reptiles in this month. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss., Worm month,..a fortnight before and a fortnight after Lammas. |
| 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., *Worm-oil. |
| 1835 Jenyns Man. Brit. Vertebr. Anim. 488 Syngnathus lumbriciformis, Nob. (*Worm Pipe-Fish). |
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 309 The files..are then heated..to a sort of *worm-red. 1833 Ibid. II. 80 The [sword-] blade is then hardened..by the smith heating it in the fire until it becomes worm red. 1881 Greener Gun 252 The pot is then placed in a bright coal fire, where it remains till the whole is of a worm red. |
| 1666 Merrett Pinax 194 Tubuli in quibus vermes, *Worm-shells. c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. vi. liii, Great Indian furrowed Worm-shell. 1767 Phil. Trans. LVII. 432 The Serpula, or Worm-shell. 1776 E. M. da Costa Elem. Conchol. 148 The third family is the Vermiculi, or Worm Shells. 1860 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Instit. 1859, 206 The Ivory Worm-shell (Vermetus eburneus). 1861 Ibid. 1860, 210 Family Vermetidæ. (Worm-Shells.) |
| 1885 F. McCoy Prodromus Zool. Victoria xi. 7 Typhlops nigrescens... The Blackish Australian *Worm-Snake. 1885 [see ground-snake s.v. ground n. 18 b]. |
| 1729 Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 133 The upper Wire or Point..is by Means of the *Worm-spring EF.., made to push the said Beam upwards with the Force of the Spring. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIII. 488/1 There must be a worm-spring fastened to the key, and to the bar W.., to keep down the end of the key. |
| 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 64 This Insect, in the *worm-state, is about the bigness of a louse. |
| 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 126 At the same rubble Quarries we find also the Lapides vermiculares, or *Worm-stones. 1681 Grew Musæum iii. §i. v. 303 The Worme-Stone... Not much unlike a Steel Worme used for the drawing of Corks out of Bottles. |
| 1593 G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 17 *Woorme-toungued Oratours, dust-footed Poets, and weatherwise historians. |
| 1859 Page Geol. Terms, Vermiculites{ddd}the smaller..*worm-tracks which appear on the surfaces of many flaggy sandstones. |
| 1776 E. M. da Costa Elem. Conchol. 285 A single Vermiculus, or *Worm-tube. 1883 Science II. 88 2 As the coral grows, it spreads round the worm-tube. 1914 Brit. Mus. Return 213 A supposed Worm-tube from the Chalk..of Bridlington. |
| c 1817 Hogg Tales & Sk. V. 214 My bed-cloth consisted of a single covering not thicker than a *wormweb. 1821 Galt Sir A. Wylie I. xxi. 178 Your Leddyship's character's no a gauze gown, or a worm web. |
| 1643 Lancash. Tracts Civil War (Chetham Soc.) 179 They bringe up an open trench in a *worme work, the earth being indented or sawed, for the securitie of their myners. |
Sense 17 in
Dict. becomes 18. Add:
[III.] 17. Computing. A program designed to sabotage a computer or computer network;
spec. a self-duplicating program which can operate without becoming incorporated into another program.
Cf. *
virus n. 2 d.
| 1975 J. Brunner Shockwave Rider ii. 176 I'm just assuming that you have the biggest-ever worm loose in the net, and that it automatically sabotages any attempt to monitor a call to the ten nines. 1980 N.Y. Times 13 Nov. d2/1 That is essentially what a group of scientists at the Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto, Calif., research center did when they created the Worm, a series of programs that moved through a data network almost at will, replicating, or copying itself, into free machines. 1982 Shoch & Hupp in Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery XXV. 173/1 We have undertaken the development and operation of several real, multimachine ‘worm’ programs. Ibid., A worm is simply a computation which lives on one or more machines. 1988 PC Mag. July 114/1 The notion of subversive software began back in the 1970s with a program that ran around the US Defense Department's Arpanet messaging system. Dubbed the Creeper, it was one of the first worm programs. 1990 Amer. Banker 1 Aug. 10/3 About 180 companies in the U.S. market offer services and software to stymie worms and viruses, which can alter or destroy data in a corporation's information systems. |
▪ II. worm, v. (
wɜːm)
Forms: 3
wirme, 6–7
worme, 7
woorme, 7–
worm.
[f. the n. Cf. Du., G. wurmen (in various senses). In
Gen. & Ex. 3342 ‘Quo so nome up forbone mor it [the manna] wirmede, bredde, and rotede ðor’ read ‘wirmes bredde’ (
cf. Petrus Comestor
scatebat vermibus).]
I. 1. intr. To hunt for or catch worms.
| 1576 Turberv. Venerie li. 153 When he [the boar] feedeth on fearne or rootes, then is it called rowting or fearning, or (as some call it) worming: bycause when he doth but a little turne vp the grounde with his nose, he seeketh for wormes. Ibid. liii. 154 In soft places where he wormeth. 1611 Cotgr., Vermiller, to worme, to root for wormes. 1614 Markham Cheap & Good Husb. vi. i. 115 It is good to keepe Chickens one fortnight in the house, and after to suffer them to goe abroad with the Henne to worme. 1880 F. Buckland Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes 11 Men, women, and children are employed in ‘worming’. 1899 R. Haggard in Longm. Mag. Apr. 520 The old thrush goes on worming without even taking the trouble to look up. |
2. a. trans. To cause to be eaten by worms; to devour, as a burrowing worm does. Chiefly
pass., to be eaten by worms. Also
fig.| 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. i. i. A 3, The body, as the Duke spake very wisely, is gone to be wormd. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Pet. ii. 4. 530 The people called him [Herod] a god, but the wormes soone confuted their ridiculous deity, That..when the Angell had worm'd that Idoll, he might say, Behold your king. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 816 Ev'ry plague that can infest Society, and that saps and worms the base Of th' edifice that policy has rais'd. 1821 Galt Ann. Parish xxvii. 235 The Manse had fallen into a sore state of decay—the doors were wormed on the hinges. 1864 T. S. Williams & Simmonds Engl. Commerc. Corresp. 285 Buffalo hides except rubbed, holed, or wormed, cannot be laid down at all near your limit. 1895 Bookseller's Catal., Some few margins are wormed, but this can be repaired at a trifling cost. 1900 Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. Scot. Ser. v. XII. 235 It might have been suspected that part of the thinness [of the oats] at one end of the plots was due to worming. |
b. To eat (one's way)
through. (
Cf. 9 c.)
| 1858 Masson Milton I. 481 There were men who had wormed their way through libraries, and might be classified according to the colours left in them by the food they had devoured. |
II. 3. a. To extract the ‘worm’ or lytta from the tongue of (a dog). (Supposed to be a safeguard against madness: see
worm n. 13.)
| 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 369 It shall be good when spanell whelpes are one moneth olde..to worme them vnder the toung. 1599 Broughton's Lett. i. 6 A dog not wormed while he is yong, will in time proue mad. 1632 B. Jonson Magn. Lady i. vii, Int...Hee Will screw you out a Secret from a Statist ―. Com. So easie, as some Cobler wormes a Dog. 1641 Peacham Worth of Penny 21 For a peny you may have your dog worm'd, and so be kept from running mad. 1743 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 3 Oct., Patapan is in my lap; I had him wormed lately, which he took heinously. 1815 Scott Guy M. vii, The men..assisted the laird in his sporting parties, wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies. 1855 Browning Protus 50 He wrote the little tract ‘On worming dogs’. |
b. transf. and
fig. (as a remedy for madness, a ribald tongue, or greediness).
| 1564–78 W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest. (1888) 62 You learned your Retorike in the vniuersitie of Bridewell; you were neuer well wormed when you were young. 1589 Nashe Countercuffe Wks. (Grosart) I. 77 The blood and the humors that were taken from him, by launcing and worming him at London vpon the common Stage. 1615 Day Festivals xii. 335 Abishai desiring leave..to go and worme that unhappy Tongue of his [Shimei's]. 1619 R. Harris Drunkard's Cup 9 He bans, and cannot be quiet till his tongue be wormed. 1621 Fletcher Pilgrim iv. i, Is she grown mad now? Is her blood set so high? I'le have her madded, I'le have her worm'd. 1623 Massinger Dk. Millaine iii. ii. G 3 When I had worm'd his tongue, and trussed his hanches. 1676 Shadwell Virtuoso i. 12 He is such a froward testy old fellow, he should be Wormed like a mad Dog. a 1679 J. Ward Diary (1839) 137 A certaine woman that eat much before her husband, and hee complained of her to her mother, shee told him itt was her fault, for she had not wormd her. |
† c. to worm a person in the nose: to extract information from him by adroit questioning.
Obs. Cf. F.
tirer à quelqu'un les vers du nez.
| 1613 Treas. Aunc. & Mod. Times ix. xxii. 953/2, I haue so cunningly wormed my husband in the nose; that he hath discouered vnto me, more Mony then hee acquainted you withall. |
4. a. To rid (plants,
esp. tobacco) of ‘worms’ or grubs.
| 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia v. 172 Wormes in the earth also there are but too many, so that to keepe them from destroying their Corne and Tobacco, they are forced to worme them euery morning,..else all would be destroyed. 1641 [cf. worming vbl. n. 2]. 1649 W. Bullock Virginia 11 The poore Servant goes daily through the rowes of Tobacco stooping to worme it. 1779 J. Carver Treat. Culture Tobacco iv. 23 This is termed ‘worming the tobacco’. 1864 R. L. De Coin Cotton & Tobacco 274 The plants ought to be wormed—which means searched and cleared of worms—at least once a week. |
| absol. 1886 C. G. W. Lock Tobacco 69 The usual practice is to worm and sucker while the dew is on in the morning. |
b. To treat (an animal) with a preparation designed to free it of parasitic worms.
| 1932 N. Mitford Christmas Pudding xi. 179 Lady Bobbin spoke to those about her of horses, hounds, and such obscure eventualities as going to ground..and being thoroughly well wormed. 1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet iv. i 276 He drenched and wormed and..drew the teeth of horses and mules. 1961 C. H. D. Todd Pop. Whippet 69 Having decided upon your puppy..ask if it has been wormed. 1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. c 20/3 (Advt.), Collie Pups..wormed, pet or show. |
III. † 5. To pry into the secrets of (a person); to play the spy upon.
Obs.| 1607 Beaum. & Fl. Woman-Hater iii. iii, O he is a very subtile and a dangerous knave, but if he deal a Gods name, we shall worm him. a 1616 ― Wit without Money iv. iv, I'le teach you to worm me, good Lady sister, and peep into my privacies to suspect me. 1648 Hunting of Fox 41 You have..a Lay-presbytery to worme your Purposes and Consciences. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. iv. 211 Spies with eye askance, Pretended heretics who worm the soul. |
6. to worm (a person) out of: to deprive or dispossess of (property, etc.) by underhand dealing. ?
Obs.| 1617 W. Fennor Compters Commw. 10 It was onely a tricke to worme mee out of my money. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV xi, Richard (whom late wee left dethron'd) is not Worne from the Storye, though worm'd out of King. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Worm'd out of, Rookt, Cheated, Trickt. 1718 tr. Tournefort's Voy. Levant I. 58 This gave us a suspicion..that they jointly contriv'd to worm us out of this Mony. 1838 Lytton Alice iii. viii, We cannot wrestle against the world, but we may shake hands with it, and worm the miser out of its treasures. |
7. to worm out: to thrust out, get rid of, expel, by subtle and persistent pressure or undermining.
| 1594 Lyly Mother Bombie ii. ii, I haue tied vp the louing worme my daughter, and will see whether fansie can worme fansie out of her head. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §30. 67 It is a riddle to me, how this story of Oracles hath not worm'd out of the World that doubtful conceit of Spirits and Witches. a 1662 Heylin Laud i. (1671) 46 He did not only stock his Colledge with such a generation of Non-conformists as could not be wormed out in many years after his decease; but [etc.]. 1665 Surv. Aff. Netherl. 127 The industrious Portugeze, whom they have wormed almost out of all their discoveries in Asia and Africa. 1683 in J. Wickham Legg Eng. Ch. Life (1914) 115 A Temper, which must Inevitably..Worme out once againe the Common Prayer. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Worm, to work one out of a Place, &c. 1714 R. Fiddes Pract. Disc. ii. 271 He who has the handsomest address..in worming others out of business, and winding himself in. 1748 E. Erskine Serm. (1755) 332 The Venom of the Old Serpent has diffused itself through all the Powers and Faculties of the Soul and Body; and it is worming out your Life. 1760 Ann. Reg., Chron. 114/1 Such a body of troops as..in time might be able to worm out the English from the trade of Bengal. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Worm, to worm out,..also to undermine, or supplant. 1811 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Bachelor's Complaint, Innumerable are the ways which they take to insult and worm you out of their husband's confidence. |
8. to worm out:
a. to extract (information, a secret, etc.) by insidious questioning. Similarly
const. out of or
from (a person).
| 1715 Addison Drummer ii. i, I fancy..thou could'st worm it [a secret] out of her. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Worm, to worm out, to obtain the knowledge of a secret by craft. 1800 M. Edgeworth Pop. T., The Will iv, I do not want to worm your secret from you. 1807 Crabbe Birth of Flattery 56, I..Who've loosed a guinea from a miser's chest, And worm'd his secret from a traitor's breast. 1840 Thackeray Catherine xi, Old Wood knew all her history... He had wormed it out of her, day by day. 1844 A. Smith Mr. Ledbury xx. (1886) 60 He was able..to worm out a description of the locality. 1853 Lytton My Novel x. xx, By little and little our Juvenile Talleyrand..wormed out from Dick this grievance. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. iii. 68 He counsels his mother not to let the king worm from her his secret. 1865 Baring-Gould Werewolves v. 62 The judge ordered one of his peasants to visit the man, and to worm the truth out of him. 1900 ‘Anthony Hope’ Quisanté i. 14 She could not get much out of him, but she found herself trying to worm out all she could. |
b. To extract (money, etc.)
out of (a person) by pleading.
| 1851 Kingsley Yeast xiii, They make the labourer fancy that he is not to depend upon God and his own right hand, but on what his wife can worm out of the good nature of the rich. |
9. a. intr. To move or progress sinuously like a worm; also
transf. of things. Usually with
adv., as
about,
along,
up,
down, or
prep., as
in,
into (a confined space). Also, to move windingly
through; to twine or twist
about (something).
| 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Tri. i. xxii, Thousand flaming serpents hissing flew..And woorming all about his soule they clung. 1802 G. Colman Br. Grins, Elder Bro. (1819) 118 He [a drunk man] work'd, with sinuosities, along, Like Monsieur Corkscrew worming thro' a Cork. 1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans xx, I little like that smoke which you may see worming up along the rock above the canoe. 1839 Bailey Festus, The Centre, Through seas and buried mountains..have we wormed Down to the ever burning forge of fire. 1884 Century Mag. XXIX. 139 They wormed through the grass to within forty or fifty feet of the rifle-pits. 1885 Cyclist 19 Aug. 1101/1 The procession..moved off in a straggling manner... Once in order, however, the riding was excellent, and a very presentable line wormed through the Newport Road. 1896 Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign xvi, The caves and their passages worm about inside the koppie. |
b. refl. in same sense.
| 1865 Gosse Land & Sea 255 So, kneeling,..or fairly stretched at full-length supine.., we worm ourselves into the holes and crannies. 1899 D. C. Murray Dangerous Catspaw 200 Gale wormed himself into the little passage. 1927 A. Christie Big Four viii. 107, I crawled cautiously out of the bushes, and inch by inch..I wormed myself down the steep path. |
c. With
advb. acc., as
to worm one's way. Also of figurative progress (
cf. next).
| 1822 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 399 Fistulous ulcers..have sometimes..wormed a sinuous path, and opened into the vagina. 1845 Lingard Hist. Anglo-Saxon Ch. I. ii. 95 Through such intrigues it occasionally happened that men, in no wise qualified for the episcopal office, wormed their way to the episcopal bench. 1851 F. B. Head Stokers & Pokers iii. 39 A number of newspaper-vendors..are worming their way through the crowd. 1869 Trollope He Knew, etc. lxii. (1878) 348 That snake in the grass who wormed his way into my house. 1883 F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius vii. 117 The screw..rushed round, worming its angry way through the long quiet waves. |
10. fig. a. To make one's way insidiously like a worm
into (a person's confidence, secret affairs, etc.); to burrow
in so as to hurt or destroy. Also, to wriggle
out of (a difficulty).
| 1627 P. Fletcher Locusts iv. xxi, To comply With that weake sexe, and by fine forgerie To worme in womens hearts, chiefly the rich and high. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Church-Rents ii, But when debates and fretting jealousies Did worm and work within you more and more, Your colour faded. 1639 J. Saltmarsh Policy 231 Vse subtle and crafty men, they will search, and skrew, and worme into busines of difficulty. 1833 Ritchie Wand. Loire 138, I worm into their secrets like a being of supernatural power. 1868 Cornh. Mag. July 68 We cannot pause to tell how imposters..wormed into his confidence. 1881 Tennyson Cup i. i. 54 And once there I warrant I worm thro' all their windings. 1893 in J. H. Barrows World's Parlt. Relig. I. 618 These facts..are exceedingly embarrassing for the adherents of the evolutionary theory; but they worm out of the difficulty in a manner that provokes..a smile. |
b. refl. To insinuate oneself
into (a person's favour or confidence, a desirable position, etc.).
| 1711 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 1 Aug., I was endeavouring to settle some points of the greatest consequence, and had wormed myself pretty well into him, when his Under Secretary came in..and interrupted all my scheme. 1712 Perquisite Monger 10 One Zaraida..so worm'd herself into the Confidence of her Mistress, as to be in the highest Esteem with her. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas iii. iii. ¶4 If you have management enough to worm yourself into his confidence. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop vi, Worm yourself into her secrets; I know you can. 1853 Reade Chr. Johnstone iii, Flucker,..with admirable smoothness and cunning, wormed himself into cabin-boy on board the yacht. 1871 Dixon Tower III. v. 45 He was to worm himself into the family councils. 1911 J. H. Rose W. Pitt & Gt. War xx. 432 This was before Wedderburn had wormed himself into favour with Lord North. |
11. trans. with predicate-extension: To move (an object)
off,
down,
through, etc. by a gradual tortuous propulsion or dragging.
| a 1861 T. Winthrop Life in Open Air (1863) 117 Aided by the urgent stream, we carefully and delicately..wormed our boat off the rock. 1873 J. T. Moggridge Harv. Ants i. 33 We measured a tunnel [formed by ants] by worming a straw down it. 1888 Stevenson Black Arrow 251 Dick had gradually wormed his right arm clear of its bonds. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 11 Dec. 2/1 To repel all attempts on the part of the enemy to worm his patrols through our advanced troops. |
IV. 12. [See
worm n. 16 d, e.] To make a screw-thread on.
† to worm in, to screw in; to insert and secure by screwing.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iv. Handie-Crafts 523 He hatcheth files, and winding vices wormeth. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xi. ¶18 It hath four Iron Hooks.., whose Shanks are Wormed in. 1868 Rogers Pol. Econ. x. (1876) 130 A smith may be engaged generally in forging or worming screws. 1884 M. Mackenzie Dis. Throat & Nose II. 271 Its outer surface is smooth for four inches from the distal end; but for the rest of its length it is wormed. |
13. a. Naut. To wind spun-yarn or small rope spirally round (a rope or cable) so as to fill up the grooves between the strands and render the surface smooth for parcelling and serving.
| 1644 [implied in worming vbl. n. 6]. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Worm a Cable, or Hawser,..to succour or strengthen it, by winding a small Rope all along between the Strands. 1730 Capt. W. Wriglesworth MS. Log-bk. of the ‘Lyell’ 22 Sept., Got our Main Stay down, Wormed the lower end of it. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) Emmieller un êtai, to worm a stay. 1799 Hull Advertiser 13 Apr. 2/2, 60 fathom of cable, part of which is wormed. 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 28 It should be tarred and wormed with stout spunyarn. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. x. 360 Three men can worm, parcel, and serve 2 fathoms of 12-inch in an hour. |
b. transf. To wind packing strips between (the cores of a multicore electric cable) so as to give a more nearly circular cross-section; also, to wind (conductors) together to form such a cable.
| 1909 Coyle & Howe Electric Cables ii. 112 Prior to impregnating, the paper-insulated cores are laid up together and wormed with jute. 1953 C. C. Barnes Power Cables i. 6 The laid-up cores are wormed into circular formation and are armoured overall. 1982 King & Halfter Underground Power Cables ii. 31 These solid⁓type multicore cables are of belted construction, in which the conductors are separately paper-insulated, ‘wormed’ together and the interstices filled with a packing or filling of fibrous material in order to obtain a circular section. |
14. To remove the charge or wad from (a gun) by means of a worm (see
worm n. 16 b). Also
absol.| 1802 C. James Milit. Dict. s.v., To worm a Gun, to take out the charge of a fire-arm by means of a worm. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. 209 No. 4. Worms, spunges, rams home, runs out, and trains. 1873 Routledge's Young Gentlm. Mag. Jan. 79/1 The guns were ‘wormed’, ‘sponged’, loaded, and run out. |