† ˈhandworm Obs.
An acarid, the itch-insect (Sarcoptes scabiei) which burrows in the hands.
| a 800 Corpus Gloss. 320 Briensis, honduyrm. c 1000 Voc. in Wright 288/4 Urcius, hand-wyrm. 14.. Metr. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 625/6 Curio, hondworme. 1530 Palsgr. 229/1 Handeworme, ciron. 1630 J. Taylor Wks. (N.), All the world is..to the heavens, as a hand-worme or nit may be compared to the world. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iii. v. 274 That Animal that well near escapes his sight by reason of its smalness, as the Acarus, the Cyro or Hand-worm. a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais iii. xxi. 181 Fleas, Punies, Handworms. |