nightcrawlern.
/ˈnʌɪtˌkrɔːlə/, U.S. /ˈnaɪtˌkrɔlər/, /ˈnaɪtˌkrɑlər/ Chiefly North American.
1. A large earthworm; esp. one caught at night to be used as bait in fishing.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Chaetopoda > order Oligochaeta > family Lumbricidae > member of (earthworm) > used as bait
redwormc1450
bloodworm1736
easworm1872
nightcrawler1896
1896 D. C. Beard Amer. Boy's Bk. Sport 117 You will see hundreds of worms..Great fat fellows called night-crawlers.
1924 Collier's 2 Feb. 3/1 He could stay up till 10 and hunt night crawlers in the garden with a lantern.
1948 Esquire Mar. 88 Members of the Huck Finn school of fishing..have been looking for some way to enliven the almost impossibly sluggish night crawler.
1971 B. Malamud Tenants 12 Lesser tried to scare off the nightcrawlers on his floor..by playing loud his hi-fi at night.
1994 Angler's Mail 18 June 57/1 African nightcrawlers. Big as a lobworm, very active, excellent bait.
2. A person who is active or stays out late at night; (now) esp. one who frequents nightclubs or similar places.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > nightlife > [noun] > person
Saturday nighter1880
honky-tonker1910
nightclubber1913
nightlifer1929
nightcrawler1940
discomaniac1966
club-hopper1982
1940 H. Garner Sin Sniper 179 ‘What kind of a bag have we got down in the squad room, Eric?’ he asked. ‘A couple of cripples, three or four night-crawlers who couldn't explain why they were out on a night like tonight..and that minister, Peacock.’
1951 J. Blake Let. 15 Apr. in Joint (1971) i. 21 We also have a group of prisoners called ‘creeps’ or ‘night-crawlers’, who prowl the dormitory at night and steal from the other sleeping prisoners.
1973 Weekend Mag. (Montreal) Dec. 17/2 I wish those night-crawlers in the TV business who select the late-late shows would find the little one-reeler.
1999 N.Y. Times 19 Nov. ix. 9/2 His place, Florent, all neon and funk, became a magnet for night-crawlers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1896