† ˈchestworm Obs.
[Cf. cheslock.]
A pill millipede, or wood-louse. It is doubtful whether quot. 1639 is a fig. use of this, or a distinct compound, meaning ‘worm within the chest or breast’.
| 1544 Phaër Regim. Lyfe (1560) B iv, Also the chestwormes that are founde betwene the barkes of trees, whych wyll tourne themselves together like a beade when they be touched. a 1639 S. Ward Serm. 60 (D.) Universal tortures..of which the pangs of childbirth..gnawings of chest⁓worms, drinks of gall and wormwood, are but shadows. Ibid. 98 (D.) The..reproofs of it [conscience]..gnawing more than any chest-worm, tormenting worse than hot pincers. |