wormn.
/wəːm/, U.S. /wərm/ I. A crawling animal, reptile, or earthworm, and related uses.† 2. † b. Applied (like vermin) to four-footed animals considered as noxious or objectionable. Obsolete.
1. A serpent, snake, dragon. Now only archaic.
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the world > animals > reptiles > [noun] > reptile > huge or like a dragon
wormOE
hydra1546
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > dragon
drakea1000
firedrakeOE
wormOE
adderOE
dragona1225
fire dragonc1475
fiendc1540
fenne1567
pen-dragon1601
water dragon1689
OE Beowulf 2287 Þa se wyrm onwoc.
c1000 Ælfric Deut. xxxii. 24 Ic sende wildeora teð on hi mid wurmum & næddrum.
c1290 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.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 321 He..Wente in-to a wirme, and tolde eue a tale.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. xi. 66 Whi wolde God vr saueour suffre such a worm In such a wrong wyse þe wommon to bi-gyle?
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 5896 Þan tok aaron þis ilk yeird, And on þe flore he kest it don, And it become a worme felon.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 720 Sumwhyle wyth wormez [MS reads wormeȝ] he werreȝ, & with wolues als.
c1475 Partenay 5859 The serpent fill don dede..Which worme was ny ryght ten hole feete of lenght.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Acts xxviii. 4 When the men off the countree sawe the worme hange on hys honde.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 238 Hast thou the pretty worme of Nylus there, That killes and paines not? View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 1068 O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give eare To that false Worm . View more context for this quotation
1716 A. Pope To Ingenious Mr. Moore 1 That Ancient Worm, the Devil.
1778 W. Hutchinson View Northumberland II. 162 The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs.
1785 W. 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 W. Morris Life & Death of Jason x. 176 Therewith began A fearful battle betwixt worm and man.
a. Any animal that creeps or crawls; a reptile; an insect. Obsolete. In Middle English often wild worm.Cf. blind-worm n., slow-worm n. (a lizard); also galleyworm, glow-worm.
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the world > animals > by locomotion > [noun] > that creeps
wormc893
reptilea1393
serpentc1440
creeper1577
crawler1649
creepy-crawly1858
c893 tr. Orosius Hist. i. vii Froxas comon..swa fela þæt man ne mihte..nanne mete gegyrwan, þæt þara wyrma nære emfela þæm mete, ær he gegearwod wære.
c1000 Ælfric Deut. iv. 18 Ne wyrce ge eow..nane anlicnyssa..ne fugeles, ne wyrmes [L. reptilium], ne fisces.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 51 Þer wunieð fower cunnes wurmes inne [viz. adders, toads, frogs and crabs].
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 154 Scorpiun is acunes wurm.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2982 Ðis wirmes [ sc. frogs and toads] storuen in ðe stede.
c1325 Sir Orfeo (Sisam) 252 Now seþ he noþing þat him likeþ, Bot wilde wormes bi him strikeþ.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xiv. 112 Briddes and bestes..And wilde wormes in wodes.
c1386 G. Chaucer Pardoner's Tale 27 If Cow or Calf or Sheepe or Oxe swelle That any worm hath ete or worm ystonge.
?c1400 J. Lydgate Æsop's Fab. v. 117 Thus were these wormes [the frog and mouse] contrary of livyng.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Exod. viii. 21 I wil cause cruell wormes (or flyes) to come vpon the.
1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 37 Cantarides..are grene wormes shewing with a glosse lyke golde.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. xxxvii. 196 This herbe dryueth away..the stinking wormes or Mothes called Cimici.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie 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 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 128v Vnderneath this bed of Sage, The fellow that did dig, Turnd vp a toade, a loathsome sight, A worme exceeding big.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 476 At once came forth whatever creeps the ground, Insect or Worme . View more context for this quotation
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iv. i. 151 Ye beasts and birds, Ye worms, and fish.
1850 W. Wordsworth Prelude xiv. 364 The meek worm that feeds her lonely lamp Couched in the dewy grass.
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the world > animals > by nature > [noun] > vermin > four-footed
worm1481
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 94 Alas me growleth of thyse fowle nyckers [sc. young marmosets]..I sawe neuer fowler wormes.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1573 Lions & Libardes & other laithe wormes.
3. † c. naked as a worm: entirely naked (= French nu comme un ver), or in allusion to this. Obsolete.† d. to look worms: ? to peer narrowly (through). Obsolete. (But perhaps a corrupt reading.)
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.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > member of
worma1100
brailed worm1496
marrow-pudding1756
annelid1813
annelidan1835
setiger1842
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Chaetopoda > order Oligochaeta > family Lumbricidae > member of genus Lumbricus
worma1100
roundworm1558
meadow worm1653
lumbricus1808
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Chaetopoda > order Oligochaeta > family Lumbricidae > member of (earthworm)
angletwitcheOE
earthworma1400
maddocka1400
tweyangle14..
wormc1400
grass worm1565
easse1582
mad1586
dew-worm1598
ground-worm1599
earth-mad1601
yellowtail1608
twatchel1661
rainworm1731
fish-worm1854
mudworm1871
intraclitellian1888
Morrenian1890
terricole1890
a1100 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 320/31 Uermis, wyrm.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. cxv. 1264 Somme beþ water wormes and somme beþ londe wormes.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 44 Maddockis, þat ben wormes of þe erþe.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 530/1 Wyrme, vermis.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. OOOvv Lyke as the worme that is crusshed or poysoned, may scantly crepe or lyft vp her heed.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 290/2 Worme in the erthe, uers de terre.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 149 A marrishes [is] to be preferred before a dry ground, that they [viz. swine] may..digge vp woormes.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xv. 128 I neuer..trode vpon a worme against my will, but I wept fort. View more context for this quotation
1731 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 269 The slimy tribe of Snails and Worms.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. vi. 144 We now are in doubt whether he means a real worm, or a young animal of the lizard species.
1840 J. H. Newman Parochial Serm. V. viii. 128 Like worms working their way upwards through the dust of the earth.
1855 P. H. Gosse Man. Marine Zool. I. 84 The Sea-mouse (Aphrodita), one of the most common as well as the largest of our Worms.
1859 C. Kingsley Glaucus (ed. 4) 154 Pectinaria Belgica..is an Annelid, or true worm.
1881 C. Darwin Form. Veg. 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. French un ver se recoquille bien quand on marche dessus.
ΚΠ
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. iv. sig. Givv Treade a worme on the tayle, and it must turne agayne.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. cxcix What worme is touched, and will not once turne again?
1595 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 ii. ii. 17 The smallest worme will turne being troden on.
1611 T. Middleton & T. Dekker Roaring Girle sig. D2 Tread vpon a worme they say twill turne taile.
1641 G. Raleigh Albania 28 There is not the least Worme, but being trodden upon will turne taile.
1641 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) I. 199 A worme will turne agayne if it be trod on.
1692 S. Shaw Ποικιλοϕρονησις 18 He has scarce the courage of a Worm, to turn at him that treads upon him.
1818 P. B. Shelley Julian & Maddalo 413 Even the instinctive worm on which we tread Turns, though it wound not.
1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone xxv. 245 It exhausted the patience of the much-enduring Willis; so that the worm turned again—insolently.
1864 R. Browning Mr. Sludge 72 Tread on a worm, it turns, sir! If I turn, Your fault!
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > nakedness or state of being unclothed > [adverb]
naked as a worm?a1366
nakedlyc1425
to the skin?1518
in one's (pure) naturals1579
in puris naturalibus1581
unclothedlya1626
puris naturalibus1626
with nothing on1678
uncoveredly1683
in the buff1803
Adamically1860
in the (also one's) altogether1894
in the raw1941
in the nuddy1953
?a1366 Romaunt Rose 454 Nakid as a worme was she.
c1386 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 824 Lat me nat lyk a worm go by the weye.
c1450 Cov. Myst., Fall of Man 291 I walke as werm with-outyn wede.
c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 211 The Lorde Schalys..was slayne at Synt Mary Overeyes.., and laye there dyspoyly nakyd as a worme.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (intransitive)] > peer
toot?c1225
porec1300
pirea1393
peer1580
pink1587
under-peer1589
blink1600
to look wormsc1600
squinny1608
pee1673
pore1706
pinker1754
styme1808
speer1866
squint1891
quiz1906
skeeze1922
c1600 Timon (1980) i. ii. 6 Il'e make the[e] looke wormes through the pryson grates Vnlesse thou satisfie to me my debt.
e. transferred and figurative phrase worm's-eye view [after bird's-eye view (bird's eye adj. 2)] , 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 (Geology) (see quot. 1972).
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [noun] > view or scenery > from the ground
worm's-eye view1908
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > map > [noun] > other types of map
mappa mundia1387
mappemondea1393
table1610
Mercator's chart1645
Peutingerian tablea1657
Mercator1694
hemisphere1706
Peutinger1731
road map1741
geological map1798
route map1816
ordnance map1828
outline map1836
contour map1862
index map1869
hypsographical map1881
soil map1898
wheel-map1899
strip map1903
distribution map1947
worm's-eye map1964
topo1970
1908 Punch 10 June 429/2 We fear the population will develop balloon-necks through trying to get a worm's-eye view of the gas-bags in the haze.
1933 Archit. Rev. 73 67/2 The illustration is a worm's-eye view of a corner of the building.
1945 A. Huxley Time must have Stop (new ed.) xiv. 145 He..looked..up at the statue above him. What a curious worm's-eye view of a goddess!
1951 W. C. Krumbein & L. L. 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 48 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. Usually plural (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.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of animals generally > [noun] > parasitic
wormc1000
botc1465
canker1753
heartworm1877
strongylosis1883
surra1883
psorospermosis1894
nagana1895
tsetse-fly disease1895
babesiasis1907
babesiosis1907
strike1932
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorders of bowels or intestines > [noun] > infestation by parasites
wormc1000
vermes1728
invermination1808
helminthiasis1811
vermination1818
rishta1834
trichinosis1866
trichiniasis1867
filariasis1879
strongylosis1883
ankylostomiasis1887
tunnel-disease1887
ascariasis1888
taeniasis1896
hook-worm disease1902
Strongyloides1902
uncinariasis1902
tunnel-sickness1903
amœbiasis1905
redwater1906
schistosomiasis1906
paragonimiasis1907
strongyloidiasis1907
strongyloidosis1907
trichinelliasis1907
loaiasis1913
onchocercosis1918
trichuriasis1921
loa loa1923
hydatidosis1925
sparganosis1928
trichinellosis1958
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > division Vermes > [noun] > member of (worm) > parasitic or harmful > intestinal
wormc1000
maw-worm1582
gut-worm1658
cavitary1835
helminth1852
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 120 Wiþ þam wyrmum þe innan eglað þam men.
c1290 Beket 2213 in S. Eng. Leg. 170 Ful of wormes was is flesch.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds xii. 23 And he waastid of wormes, deiede.
c1440 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 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxiiiiv The wormes is a light disease and they ly in the great paunche in the belly of they horse, and they ar shinyng of colour lyke a snake, sixe inches of length.
1534 J. Heywood Play of Loue sig. Civ Wherby loue is a drynk mete To gyue babes for wormes for it drynkth bytter swete.
1630 T. Randolph Aristippus 25 The King of Russia had died of the wormes, but for a powder I sent him.
1648 W. Poole Countrey Farrier ii. lii. 16 To cure the Worms, or Bottes that do wring his belly.
1665 Golden Coast or Descr. Guinney 10 There is a kinde of long Worm, that ariseth in the Legs, Arms, and Thighs of some men that come hither.
1705 tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea viii. 108 The National Diseases here are the Small-Pox and Worms.
1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet iv. 407 Children subject to Worms ought not to live much upon Milk, Cheese, or ripe Fruits.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. I. 314 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. Dis. xxxvi. 534 A dose of santonin often produces results which will seem to justify a diagnosis of ‘worms.’
5. figurative.1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull 305 b Pride, which is the moght, the worme that eateth vp the riche men.1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 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.
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 collective 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > eggs or young > [noun] > young or development of young > larva
niteOE
wormOE
grubc1420
canker1440
caterpillarc1440
cankerworm1530
mad1573
bug1594
blote1657
vermicle1657
hexapod1668
grub-worm1752
truffle-worm1753
larva1768
larve1822
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > eggs or young > [noun] > young or development of young > larva > thought to be generated by decay or maggot
wormOE
matheOE
maddocka1250
mawka1425
maggot?a1475
vermicular?1691
vermiculus1694
vermicule1713
OE Riddle 47 3 Me þæt þuhte wrætlicu wyrd..þæt se wyrm forswealg wera gied sumes.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 110 Flesch wið uten salt gedereð wurmes..& roteð..sone.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 10045 Þo grene corn in somer ssolde curne, To foule wormes muchedel þe eres gonne turne.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Tollemache MS.) (1495) xvii. cxiv In somer þe tender leues þerof beþ eten with smal schagges, and with oþer wormes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6612 Þai fand bot wormes creuland emid.
1415 T. Hoccleve To Sir J. Oldcastle 466 The worm for to sleen in the pesecod.
c1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 965 Now pike out moughthes, attercoppes, wormes, And butterflie whos thost engendring worm is.
?c1450 in G. J. Aungier Hist. & Antiq. Syon Monastery (1840) 392 The Chaumbres schal haue al the clothes in her warde,..makyng, repayryng, and kepyng them from wormes.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. lx. 522 The small wormes that are found within the knoppes or heades of Teaselles.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 78 The small Wormes of the Drones.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iv. 111 She..let concealment like a worme i'th budde Feede on her damaske cheeke. View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Arcades in Poems 54 Or what the cross dire-looking Planet smites, Or hurtfull Worm with canker'd venom bites.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 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 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity iii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 478 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 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. iii, in Poems 104 The crawling Worm that turns a Summer-Fly.
1847 R. W. Emerson Shakespeare in Wks. (1906) I. 358 They have left..no file of old yellow accounts to decompose in damp and worms.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xli. 369 The worms have eaten the cloth a good deal.
1857 C. 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. Apiculture 78 When worms are spoken of by the ordinary beekeeper, the larvæ of the bee~moth are almost always meant.
1886 C. G. W. Lock Tobacco 55 Worms, in the American phraseology, here generally known as caterpillars, are the bête noire of the tobacco grower.
b. The larva or grub of many kinds of beetles, destructive to trees, timber, furniture, etc. (Cf. 9 and wood-worm (wood n.1 Compounds 2b).)
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > member of (beetle) > larva
worma1100
turk1712
a1100 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 121/35 Termes, uel teredo, wyrm þe borað treow.
c1386 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Prol. 376 Right as wormes shendeth a tree.
c1470 Early Eng. Misc. (Warton Club) 70 Iff wormys wex in a tre.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour ii. xiv. sig. Xiij As the wormes do brede moste gladly in softe wode and swete.
1567 R. Sempill Test. & Trag. King Henrie (single sheet) As the woirme that workis vnder cuire At lenth the tre consumis that is duire.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xvii. xxiv. 539 As touching the Worme, some trees are more subject unto it than others.
1657 R. Austen Treat. Fruit-trees (ed. 2) 72 Foure Diseases that sometimes happen to Fruit-trees. Mossinesse, Bark bound, Canker, and Wormes.
1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming 190 The Worm is very apt to get between the Bark of this Wood after it is fell'd.
1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. iii, in Poems 104 Worms ate the Floors, the Tap'stry fled the Wall.
1925 C. J. Gahan Furnit. 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Bombycidae > genus Bombyx > silk moth > caterpillar of bombyx mori or silkworm
worma900
silkwormc1000
bombyxa1398
spinner1598
Serian worm1633
a900 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. Moffett Silkewormes 53 I thinke that God and nature thought it meete, The noblest wormes on noblest tree to feede.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iv. 73 The wormes were hallowed that did breed the silke. View more context for this quotation
a1632 T. Middleton & J. Webster Any Thing for Quiet Life (1662) ii. sig. C4 An especial good piece of Silk, the Worm never spun a finer thread.
1637 J. Milton Comus 25 Spinning worms, That in their green shops weave the smooth-hair'd silk.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 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. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 203 Nebist þu wurme fode.c1230 Hali Meid. (1922) 59 Þat lam & wurmene mete.?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 90 Þi fleisse nis naȝte bot worme is meisse.1340 Ayenbite (1866) 216 Saint bernard zayþ huet is man bote uelþe..wermene mete [L. esca vermium]?1340 Ayenbite (1866) 216 He is..mete to wermes ine his dyaþe.c1400 Pety Job 7 in 26 Pol. Poems 121 I shalbe wormes ware.1411–12 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 1087 It is to gret an abusioun, To seen a man, þat is but wormes mete, Desire riches.a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxxi. 428 Ne flesh he was wonte to fede, It shall be wormes mese.1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. i. 107 He hath made wormes meate of me. View more context for this quotation1637 S. Rutherford Let. in Joshua Redivivus (1671) 235 Fear not clay and worm's meat.1675 E. Cocker Morals 45 Poor Worms-meat, Soar not to the hight of State.1677 T. Otway Cheats of Scapin ii. i, in Titus & Berenice sig. G4 By Heaven, he shall be Worms-meat within these two hours.
a.
(a) A maggot, or, in popular belief, an earthworm, supposed to eat dead bodies in the grave.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > class Chaetopoda > order Oligochaeta > family Lumbricidae > member of (earthworm) > supposed to eat dead bodies
wormOE
OE Cynewulf Juliana 416 Ic þære sawle ma geornot gyme ymb þæs gæstes forwyrd þonne þæs lichoman, se þe on legre sceal weorðan in worulde wyrme to hroþor, bifolen in foldan.
OE Soul & Body I 112 Rib reafiað reðe wyrmas, beoð hira tungan totogenne on tyn healfa hungregum to frofre.
c1200 Vices & Virtues 15 We beoð wiðuten al swa ðe deade mannes þruh, þe is wiðuten ihwited, and wiðinne stinkende and full of wermes.
c1250 Death 157 in Old Eng. Misc. 178 Nu þe sculen wormes [Jesus MS. wurmes] wunien wiðinne.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14321 Wormes biginnes at ete him nu.
a1400 Minor P. Vernon MS. 661/114 Wormes blake wol vs enbrase.
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 37v Thou shalt haue no power to fele the stenche of thy body, nor howe the wormes shall suke thy roten kareyn.
1542 in J. W. Clay Testamenta Eboracensia (1902) 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.
1611 Bible (King James) Job xxiv. 20 The worme shall feed sweetly on him. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iv. i. 100 Men haue died from time to time, and wormes haue eaten them. View more context for this quotation
a1679 J. Ward Diary (1839) 274 Three months after, his bodie went to the wormes.
1796 M. G. Lewis Alonzo the Brave xii, in Monk III. 65 The worms they crept in, and the worms they crept out, And sported his eyes and his temples about.
1815 R. Southey Life (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?
(b) punningly. (Cf. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. iii. 21–3.)
ΚΠ
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (at cited word) He is gone to the diet of worms, he is dead and buried, or gone to Rot-his-bone.
b. figurative as one of the pains of Hell (Mark ix. 48, Isaiah lxvi. 24).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > hell > [noun] > torment of Hell
witec825
pineOE
wormc1000
woec1175
painc1300
second deathc1384
penancec1395
burning marl1667
penancy1682
torment1852
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) ix. 48 Aworpen on helle fyr, þar hyra wyrm ne swylt.
c1275 Sinners Beware 53 in Old Eng. Misc. 73 Þe wurmes..Þat doþ þe saule teone.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter i. 1 Þe saule thurgh assent gets þe worme þt neuer sall dye.
1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies Against Whoredom sig. R iv b The worme, that shall there gnawe the conscience of the dampned, shall neuer dye.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 230 As to the other Fate of Books, it is to be feared these feed their Authors never dying Worme.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 739 Driven down To chains of Darkness, and th' undying Worm . View more context for this quotation
c. worm's (also worms') meat, said of a man's dead body, or of man as mortal. Also †worms' food or ware; meat for (or †to) worms (cf. to be food for worms at food n. 1e); †worms' mess food for worms.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > dead body > [noun]
lichc893
dust?a1000
holdc1000
bonesOE
stiff onea1200
bodyc1225
carrion?c1225
licham?c1225
worms' food or ware?c1225
corsec1250
ashc1275
corpsec1315
carcass1340
murraina1382
relicsa1398
ghostc1400
wormes warec1400
corpusc1440
scadc1440
reliefc1449
martc1480
cadaverc1500
mortc1500
tramort?a1513
hearse1530
bulk1575
offal1581
trunk1594
cadaverie1600
relicts1607
remains1610
mummya1616
relic1636
cold meat1788
mortality1827
death bone1834
deader1853
stiff1859
OE Soul & Body I 124 Þonne þæt werie lic acolod bið þæt he lange ær werede mid wædum Bið þonne wyrmas gifel, æt on eorþan.
a1023 Wulfstan Homilies xxx. 145 We syndon deadlice menn and to duste sceolon on worulde wurðan wurmum to æte.]
7. † a. A tick or mite breeding in the hand, foot, or other part of the body. Obsolete.See also handworm n., nose-worm n. at nose n. Compounds 2, wheal-worm n. at wheal n.1 Compounds, ringworm n.1, dew-worm n. (etym. note).† b. figurative or allusively. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Acari or family Acaridae > member of (mite)
wormc1000
miteOE
minta1500
acarus1657
acaridan1835
acarine1835
acaroid1842
acaridian1857
acarian1860
acarid1861
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Acari or family Acaridae > member of (tick)
ticka800
wormc1000
tickel1577
tick-fly1658
cattle-tick1869
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 124 Gif wyrm hand ete.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxiiv The worme in a shepes fote... There be some shepe that haue a worne in his fote that maketh theym to halte.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 290/2 Worme in the hand, ciron.
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus i. f. 15v A litle blayne, a small cutte, yea a silie poore worme in his finger, may kepe him from shoting wel ynough.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iv. 66 Her waggoner is a small gray coated flie, Not halfe so big as is a little worme, Pickt from the lasie finger of a maide.
1605 P. Erondelle French Garden G 7 b His knees are very round, he hath a worme at the right knee.
ΚΠ
1577 J. Grange Golden Aphroditis sig. Kivv To picke a worme betweene two forked fingers [i.e. to make horns: cf. Cotgrave s.v. Ciron].
1604 T. Dekker Newes from Graues-end sig. A4 Strange fashions did I pick (like wormes) out of the fingers of euery Nation.
c. In common parlance: = comedo n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > eruption > [noun] > comedo
comedo1730
worm1730
blackhead1837
whitehead1886
waster1899
1730 J. 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 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 752 It is also known as grub, worm, black-head, or ‘waster’.
8. An earthworm, or a larva (see senses 3, 5 above).collective singular.1909 W. C. Platts Light Lines 82 There may be no particular skill required in catching a few trout with worm in coloured water.
a. as the food of birds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animal food > [noun] > food eaten by birds
worma1250
bil-fodura1375
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > eggs or young > [noun] > young or development of young > larva > as food of birds
worma1250
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 601 Ac wat etestu..Bute attercoppe and fule uliȝe, An wormes, ȝif þu miȝte finde Among þe uolde of harde rinde?
c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 326 The foules smale That eten as that nature wolde enclyne, As worme, or thynge of whiche I tel no tale.
c1386 G. Chaucer Squire's Tale 609 And to the wode he wole and wormes ete.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Cock & Jasp l. 94 in Poems (1981) 7 Draf or corne, small wormis, or snaillis, Or ony meit wald do my stomok gude.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. ii. 32 How will you liue? Son. As Birds do Mother. Wife. What with Wormes, and Flyes? View more context for this quotation
1670 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 84 The early bird catcheth the worm.
1815 J. F. Stephens 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 R. Browning Caliban in Dramatis Personæ 51 The pie with the long tongue That pricks deep into oakwarts for a worm.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. vi. 47 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > bait > worms and grubs
angletwitcheOE
wormc1320
codwormc1450
redwormc1450
gentle1577
touchangle1581
bob1589
Jack1601
dug1608
codbait1620
caddis-worm1627
caddis1653
cockspur1653
lob-worm1653
marsh worm1653
gilt tail1656
cadew1668
cad1674
ash-grub1676
clap-bait1681
whitebait1681
earth-bob1696
jag-tail1736
buzz1760
treachet1787
angleworm1788
cow-turd-bob1798
palmer bob1814
slob1814
angledog1832
caddis-bait1833
sedge-worm1839
snake feeder1861
hellgrammite1866
easworm1872
cow-dung bob1880
snake doctora1883
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > eggs or young > [noun] > young or development of young > larva > as bait for fish
wormc1320
c1320 Cast. Love 1129 As fisch þat is wt hok inomen, Þat whon þe worm he swoleweþ alast, He is bi þe hok itiȝed fast.
1510 J. Stanbridge Vocabula (W. de W.) D j Lumbrex, a worme or an angle twache.
1566 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 130 Diggyng dovne the comon dycke..for gettyng of wormes.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. iii. 28 Looke you, a man may fish with that worme That hath eaten of a King.
1627 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman (rev. ed.) xvii. 303 For your liue baites 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 ‘P. Pindar’ Tristia 45 Patient as men, upon the river's side, Who for a dinner throw the worm or fly.
c. In colloquial phrase (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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun] > source of
abusement1535
Pandora's tub1612
Pandora's box1648
(to open) a can of worms1962
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 collective the worm, as a destructive pest.Formerly supposed to be a grub or larva: cf. 5b and Teredo n. See also ship-worm n. at ship n.1 Compounds 3c, †tree-worm n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Mollusca > [noun] > miscellaneous types > other types of mollusc
squame1393
shell-worm1591
spout-fish1594
pentadactyl1601
sea cucumber1601
pirot1611
worm1621
nun-fish1661
scarlet mussel1672
sea-navel1678
redcap?1711
strawberry cockle1713
sea-finger1748
sea-nail1748
sea-acorn1755
coneya1757
compass1776
bubble shell1818
glass-shell1851
golden comb1857
cryptodont1893
nuculoid1960
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > member of > parasitic or destructive > long or slender
worm1621
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Siphonida > sinu-pallialia > family Pholadidae > member of
Teredo1398
tree-worm1398
broma1555
worm1621
pholas1661
pirot1686
piddock1696
file1705
pholad1708
pileworm1733
file-shell1752
file-fish1774
ship-worm1778
rock-piercer1783
borer1789
pholadean1842
1621 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1618–21 (1906) 314 She being a new shipp, onely spoyled with the worme.
1673 Earl of Anglesey et al. Order to Officers of Navy 20 Dec. in T. Hale Acct. New Inventions (1691) 7 Securing the Hulls of his Majesties Ships against the Worm.
1774 E. Long Hist. 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 R. Browning James Lee's Wife ii. iii Some ships, safe in port indeed, Rot and rust, Run to dust, All through worms i' the wood.
II. A person or thing regarded as contemptuous or insidious, and related uses.
10. figurative.† c. With qualification expressing tenderness, playfulness, or commiseration: A human being, ‘creature’. Obsolete. (In 16th cent. esp. loving worm.)Cf. German das arme wurm, applied to a child.† d. Used, like caterpillar n. 2, for: One who preys on society. Obsolete.
a. A human being likened to a worm or reptile as an object of contempt, scorn, or pity; an abject, miserable creature.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [noun] > state or quality of being contemptible > contemptible person
wormc825
wretchOE
thingOE
hinderlingc1175
harlot?c1225
mixa1300
villain1303
whelpc1330
wonnera1340
bismera1400
vilec1400
beasta1425
creaturec1450
dog bolt1465
fouling?a1475
drivel1478
shit1508
marmoset1523
mammeta1529
pilgarlica1529
pode1528
slave1537
slim1548
skit-brains?1553
grasshopper1556
scavenger1563
old boss1566
rag1566
shrub1566
ketterela1572
shake-rag1571
skybala1572
mumpsimus1573
smatchetc1582
squib1586
scabship1589
vassal1589
baboon1592
Gibraltar1593
polecat1593
mushroom1594
nodc1595
cittern-head1598
nit1598
stockfish1598
cum-twang1599
dish-wash1599
pettitoe1599
mustard-token1600
viliaco1600
cargo1602
stump1602
snotty-nose1604
sprat1605
wormling1605
brock1607
dogfly?1611
shag-rag1611
shack-rag1612
thrum1612
rabbita1616
fitchock1616
unworthy1616
baseling1618
shag1620
glow-worm1624
snip1633
the son of a worm1633
grousea1637
shab1637
wormship1648
muckworm1649
whiffler1659
prig1679
rotten egg1686
prigster1688
begged fool1693
hang-dog1693
bugger1694
reptile1697
squinny1716
snool1718
ramscallion1734
footer1748
jackass1756
hallion1789
skite1790
rattlesnake1791
snot1809
mudworm1814
skunk1816
stirrah1816
spalpeen1817
nyaff1825
skin1825
weed1825
tiger1827
beggar1834
despicability1837
squirt1844
prawn1845
shake1846
white mouse1846
scurf1851
sweep1853
cockroach1856
bummer1857
medlar1859
cunt1860
shuck1862
missing link1863
schweinhund1871
creepa1876
bum1882
trashbag1886
tinhorn1887
snot-rag1888
rodent1889
whelpling1889
pie eatera1891
mess1891
schmuck1892
fucker1893
cheapskate1894
cocksucker1894
gutter-bird1896
perisher1896
skate1896
schmendrick1897
nyamps1900
ullage1901
fink1903
onion1904
punk1904
shitepoke1905
tinhorn sport1906
streeler1907
zob1911
stink1916
motherfucker1918
Oscar1918
shitass1918
shit-face1923
tripe-hound1923
gimp1924
garbage can1925
twerp1925
jughead1926
mong1926
fuck?1927
arsehole1928
dirty dog1928
gazook1928
muzzler1928
roach1929
shite1929
mook1930
lug1931
slug1931
woodchuck1931
crud1932
dip1932
bohunkus1933
lint-head1933
Nimrod1933
warb1933
fuck-piga1935
owl-hoot1934
pissant1935
poot1935
shmegegge1937
motheree1938
motorcycle1938
squiff1939
pendejo1940
snotnose1941
jerkface1942
slag1943
yuck1943
fuckface?1945
fuckhead?1945
shit-head1945
shite-hawk1948
schlub1950
asswipe1953
mother1955
weenie1956
hard-on1958
rass hole1959
schmucko1959
bitch ass1961
effer1961
lamer1961
arsewipe1962
asshole1962
butthole1962
cock1962
dipshit1963
motherfuck1964
dork1965
bumhole1967
mofo1967
tosspot1967
crudball1968
dipstick1968
douche1968
frickface1968
schlong1968
fuckwit1969
rassclaat1969
ass1970
wank1970
fecker1971
wanker1971
butt-fucker1972
slimeball1972
bloodclaat1973
fuckwad1974
mutha1974
suck1974
cocksuck1977
tosser1977
plank1981
sleazebag1981
spastic1981
dweeb1982
bumboclaat1983
dickwad1983
scuzzbag1983
sleazeball1983
butt-face1984
dickweed1984
saddie1985
butt plug1986
jerkweed1988
dick-sucker1989
microcephalic1989
wankstain1990
sadster1992
buttmunch1993
fanny1995
jackhole1996
fassyhole1997
fannybaws2000
fassy2002
c825 Vesp. Psalter xxi. 7 Ic soðlice eam wyrm [L. vermis] & nales mon.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4870 Icc amm an wurrm. & nohht nan mann.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 215 Ich am, he zede, a lite werm, and no man.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (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.
c1450 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi iii. iv. 67 I am þi most poure seruaunt, and an abiecte worme.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xiii. sig. Qq1 O Clinias,..the wickedest worme that euer went vpon two legges.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) v. v. 82 Vilde worme, thou wast ore-look'd euen in thy birth.
1623 P. Massinger Duke of Millaine iii. ii. sig. G4v If I am dull now, may I liue and dye The scorne of wormes & slaues.
a1662 B. Duppa Holy Rules & Helps Devotion (1674) i. 26 A Dignity that raiseth us poor Worms of the Earth to a kind of equality with the Angels themselves.
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 252 All this dread Order, shall it break? For thee? Vile Worm!
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 12 He, from his exceeding manfulness.., Wroth to be wroth at such a worm.
1864 A. Trollope Small House at Allington I. xxvii. 277 Poor reptile; wretched worm of a man!
1882 W. Besant All Sorts of Men I. vii. 179 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 17:14).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [noun] > state or quality of being contemptible > contemptible person
wormc825
wretchOE
thingOE
hinderlingc1175
harlot?c1225
mixa1300
villain1303
whelpc1330
wonnera1340
bismera1400
vilec1400
beasta1425
creaturec1450
dog bolt1465
fouling?a1475
drivel1478
shit1508
marmoset1523
mammeta1529
pilgarlica1529
pode1528
slave1537
slim1548
skit-brains?1553
grasshopper1556
scavenger1563
old boss1566
rag1566
shrub1566
ketterela1572
shake-rag1571
skybala1572
mumpsimus1573
smatchetc1582
squib1586
scabship1589
vassal1589
baboon1592
Gibraltar1593
polecat1593
mushroom1594
nodc1595
cittern-head1598
nit1598
stockfish1598
cum-twang1599
dish-wash1599
pettitoe1599
mustard-token1600
viliaco1600
cargo1602
stump1602
snotty-nose1604
sprat1605
wormling1605
brock1607
dogfly?1611
shag-rag1611
shack-rag1612
thrum1612
rabbita1616
fitchock1616
unworthy1616
baseling1618
shag1620
glow-worm1624
snip1633
the son of a worm1633
grousea1637
shab1637
wormship1648
muckworm1649
whiffler1659
prig1679
rotten egg1686
prigster1688
begged fool1693
hang-dog1693
bugger1694
reptile1697
squinny1716
snool1718
ramscallion1734
footer1748
jackass1756
hallion1789
skite1790
rattlesnake1791
snot1809
mudworm1814
skunk1816
stirrah1816
spalpeen1817
nyaff1825
skin1825
weed1825
tiger1827
beggar1834
despicability1837
squirt1844
prawn1845
shake1846
white mouse1846
scurf1851
sweep1853
cockroach1856
bummer1857
medlar1859
cunt1860
shuck1862
missing link1863
schweinhund1871
creepa1876
bum1882
trashbag1886
tinhorn1887
snot-rag1888
rodent1889
whelpling1889
pie eatera1891
mess1891
schmuck1892
fucker1893
cheapskate1894
cocksucker1894
gutter-bird1896
perisher1896
skate1896
schmendrick1897
nyamps1900
ullage1901
fink1903
onion1904
punk1904
shitepoke1905
tinhorn sport1906
streeler1907
zob1911
stink1916
motherfucker1918
Oscar1918
shitass1918
shit-face1923
tripe-hound1923
gimp1924
garbage can1925
twerp1925
jughead1926
mong1926
fuck?1927
arsehole1928
dirty dog1928
gazook1928
muzzler1928
roach1929
shite1929
mook1930
lug1931
slug1931
woodchuck1931
crud1932
dip1932
bohunkus1933
lint-head1933
Nimrod1933
warb1933
fuck-piga1935
owl-hoot1934
pissant1935
poot1935
shmegegge1937
motheree1938
motorcycle1938
squiff1939
pendejo1940
snotnose1941
jerkface1942
slag1943
yuck1943
fuckface?1945
fuckhead?1945
shit-head1945
shite-hawk1948
schlub1950
asswipe1953
mother1955
weenie1956
hard-on1958
rass hole1959
schmucko1959
bitch ass1961
effer1961
lamer1961
arsewipe1962
asshole1962
butthole1962
cock1962
dipshit1963
motherfuck1964
dork1965
bumhole1967
mofo1967
tosspot1967
crudball1968
dipstick1968
douche1968
frickface1968
schlong1968
fuckwit1969
rassclaat1969
ass1970
wank1970
fecker1971
wanker1971
butt-fucker1972
slimeball1972
bloodclaat1973
fuckwad1974
mutha1974
suck1974
cocksuck1977
tosser1977
plank1981
sleazebag1981
spastic1981
dweeb1982
bumboclaat1983
dickwad1983
scuzzbag1983
sleazeball1983
butt-face1984
dickweed1984
saddie1985
butt plug1986
jerkweed1988
dick-sucker1989
microcephalic1989
wankstain1990
sadster1992
buttmunch1993
fanny1995
jackhole1996
fassyhole1997
fannybaws2000
fassy2002
1633 J. Shirley Gamester (1637) ii. D 1 He that affronts Me, is the sonne of a Worme, and his father a Whoore.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 3 Man, who is a worm and the son of a worm.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [noun]
hadc900
lifesmaneOE
maneOE
world-maneOE
ghostOE
wyeOE
lifeOE
son of manOE
wightc1175
soulc1180
earthmanc1225
foodc1225
person?c1225
creaturec1300
bodyc1325
beera1382
poppetc1390
flippera1400
wat1399
corsec1400
mortal?a1425
deadly?c1450
hec1450
personagec1485
wretcha1500
human1509
mundane1509
member1525
worma1556
homo1561
piece of flesh1567
sconce1567
squirrel?1567
fellow creature1572
Adamite1581
bloat herringa1586
earthling1593
mother's child1594
stuff1598
a piece of flesh1600
wagtail1607
bosom1608
fragment1609
boots1623
tick1631
worthy1649
earthlies1651
snap1653
pippin1665
being1666
personal1678
personality1678
sooterkin1680
party1686
worldling1687
human being1694
water-wagtail1694
noddle1705
human subject1712
piece of work1713
somebody1724
terrestrial1726
anybody1733
individual1742
character1773
cuss1775
jig1781
thingy1787
bod1788
curse1790
his nabs1790
article1796
Earthite1814
critter1815
potato1815
personeityc1816
nibs1821
somebody1826
tellurian1828
case1832
tangata1840
prawn1845
nigger1848
nut1856
Snooks1860
mug1865
outfit1867
to deliver the goods1870
hairpin1879
baby1880
possum1894
hot tamale1895
babe1900
jobbie1902
virile1903
cup of tea1908
skin1914
pisser1918
number1919
job1927
apple1928
mush1936
face1944
jong1956
naked ape1965
oke1970
punter1975
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iii. ii. sig. D.iij Yea and he is as louing a worme againe as a doue.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer ii. sig. R.ij Thus bicause they woulde bee counted to louynge woormes, they make menne counte them lyars, and fonde flatterers.
1568 U. Fulwell Like wil to Like A ij b Yet are women kinde wormes I dare wel say.
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 159 Apulius Asse, was..a cunning Ape, a loouing worme.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iii. i. 31 Poore worme thou art infected. View more context for this quotation
a1625 J. Fletcher Monsieur Thomas (1639) i. i. sig. B3v Val. How do's his Father? Hyl. As mad a worme as eer he was.
1631 B. Jonson Staple of Newes v. iii. 37 in Wks. II There hee sits like an old worme of the peace.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > robber > spoiler or plunderer > [noun]
riflera1350
ravenerc1384
pillerc1385
preyerc1390
raptora1398
peelera1425
despoiler1467
spulyierc1475
pillardc1485
ruggerc1485
pollera1513
booty-fellow1530
spoiler1535
caterpillar1541
kitea1556
ransacker?1576
predator1581
lurdan1589
worm1591
scraper1598
pillager?1611
ravager1611
bird of preya1616
depredator1626
plunderer1639
expilator1658
shark1713
depredationist1828
spoliator1831
rapiner1843
ravisher1851
1591 R. Greene Notable Discouery of Coosenage f. 6 The Seruing-man sent with his Lordes treasure, looseth ofttimes most part, to these worms of the common wealth.
1633 Costlie Whore v. sig. H3v Lords see these wormes of kingdomes be destroyed. [Cf. sig. H3 ante the catter pillers of the state.]
e. slang. A policeman.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > [noun] > policeman
truncheon officer1708
runner1735
horny1753
nibbing-cull1775
nabbing-cull1780
police officer1784
police constable1787
policeman1788
scout1789
nabman1792
nabber1795
pig1811
Bow-street officer1812
nab1813
peeler1816
split1819
grunter1823
robin redbreast1824
bulky1828
raw (or unboiled) lobster1829
Johnny Darm1830
polis1833
crusher1835
constable1839
police1839
agent1841
johndarm1843
blue boy1844
bobby1844
bluebottle1845
copper1846
blue1848
polisman1850
blue coat1851
Johnny1851
PC1851
spot1851
Jack1854
truncheonist1854
fly1857
greycoat1857
cop1859
Cossack1859
slop1859
scuffer1860
nailerc1863
worm1864
Robert1870
reeler1879
minion of the law1882
ginger pop1887
rozzer1888
nark1890
bull1893
grasshopper1893
truncheon-bearer1896
John1898
finger1899
flatty1899
mug1903
John Dunn1904
John Hop1905
gendarme1906
Johnny Hop1908
pavement pounder1908
buttons1911
flat-foot1913
pounder1919
Hop1923
bogy1925
shamus1925
heat1928
fuzz1929
law1929
narker1932
roach1932
jonnop1938
grass1939
roller1940
Babylon1943
walloper1945
cozzer1950
Old Bill1958
cowboy1959
monaych1961
cozzpot1962
policeperson1965
woolly1965
Fed1966
wolly1970
plod1971
roz1971
Smokey Bear1974
bear1975
beast1978
woodentop1981
Five-O1983
dibble1990
Bow-street runner-
1864 J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed.) Worm, the latest Slang term for a policeman.
11. figurative.† b. A whim or ‘maggot’ in the brain; a perverse fancy or desire; a streak of madness or insanity. Often wild worm (cf. sense 2). Obsolete. (So German wurm.)† c. greedy worm (cf. sense 13): avarice or greediness as an itching passion in the heart. Obsolete.
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 n. 2.Sometimes ‘the worm that never dies’ (as in 6b).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [noun] > grief that preys on the heart
wormOE
society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > reform, amendment, or correction > repentance or contrition > [noun] > pricking or murmuring of conscience
wormOE
prick of conscience?c1225
bitingc1440
compunction?a1475
grudge1483
pouncea1500
grutch1509
pincha1566
remurmuration of conscience1611
twinge1622
wringing1623
twinging1816
OE Andreas (1932) 769 Brandhata nið weoll on gewitte, weorm blædum fag, attor ælfæle.
c1386 G. Chaucer Doctor's Tale 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 tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie 143 Euery man read easily in his face..that some secret worme gnawed vpon his accustomed ioy.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iii. 219 The worme of conscience still begnaw thy soule. View more context for this quotation
a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley Changeling (1653) iii. sig. E4 'Twil hardly buy a capcase for ones conscience tho To keep it from the worm.
1716 A. Pope To Ingenious Mr. Moore 2 Their Conscience is a Worm within, That gnaws them Night and Day.
1753 T. Smollett Ferdinand Count Fathom II. xlv. 68 In this manner he secretly nursed the worm of grief that preyed upon his vitals.
1813 Ld. Byron Bride Abydos ii. xxvii. 638 And, oh! that pang where more than Madness lies—The Worm that will not sleep—and never dies.
1826 Hazlitt Plain Speaker x, in 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.
a1865 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.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > capriciousness > a caprice or whim
fantasya1450
wantonness1531
humour1533
worm?a1534
will1542
toy?1545
whey-worm1548
wild worm1548
freak1563
crotchet1573
fancy1579
whim-wham1580
whirligig1589
caper1592
megrim1593
spleen1594
kicksey-winsey1599
fegary1600
humorousness1604
curiosity1605
conundrum1607
whimsy1607
windmill1612
buzza1616
capriccioa1616
quirka1616
flama1625
maggota1625
fantasticality1631
capruch1634
gimcrack1639
whimseycado1654
caprich1656
excursion1662
frisk1665
caprice1673
fita1680
grub1681
fantasque1697
whim1697
frolic1711
flight1717
whigmaleery1730
vagary1753
maddock1787
kink1803
fizgig1824
fad1834
whimmery1837
fantod1839
brain crack1853
whimsy-whamsy1871
tic1896
tick1900
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > slight madness > crankiness or eccentricity > idea
worm?a1534
frenzy1632
twist1811
fad1834
fantod1839
crank1848
marotte1852
faddity1892
?a1534 H. Medwall Nature ii. sig. fiiv The wylde worm ys com into hys hed, So that by reason only he ys led.
1534 J. Heywood Play of Loue sig. Civ Our louer in whose hed By a frantyk worme his opinion is bred.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xliiii Some priuate Scorpion in your heartes, or some wild worme in your heades hath caused you to conspire my death and confusion.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. xlij The wilde worme of vengaunce wauerynge in his hed.
1606 G. Chapman Gentleman Vsher v. sig. I3 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 P. Massinger Duke of Millaine v. i. sig. L2 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. to Sir W. Temple (1888) 84 Lest you should think I have as many worms in my head as he.
1674 T. Rymer in tr. R. Rapin Refl. Aristotle's Treat. Poesie 47 The Emperor Nero who had the Worm in his Head, and conceited himself a Wit.
1678 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. (ed. 2) 278 He has a worm in 's brain.
1705 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 26 Nov. (O.H.S.) I. 100 He presently after laid it aside, by reason the worm (wth wch he is possessed) mov'd in his head another way.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > inordinate or excessive desire > [noun] > inordinate desire of possessions
greediness1154
greedilaikc1175
yissingc1275
covetise1297
covetingc1315
winningheadc1315
concupiscencec1340
avaricec1386
greedy worm1430
cupidity1436
covetousness1526
avariciousness1560
greed1609
an itching palma1616
gripulousness1633
havingness1646
avarition1661
my-ness1662
aviditya1680
gripingness1683
ingordigiousnessa1734
graspingness1747
accumulativeness1821
acquisitiveness1826
pleonexia1858
possessiveness1864
over-greed1867
appropriativeness1882
1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes iii. 4251 Auarise, to al vertu contraire, The gredi werm, the serpent vnstaunchable.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 137/1 Thus we see..what occasion the emperour and duke did take, to inrich themselues by the meanes of the king, whome they forced not to impouerish, so their owne greedie worme were serued.
1607 F. Beaumont Woman Hater i. iii. sig. B3v He is of good wit, & sufficient vnderstanding, when he is not trobled 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. Scottish. Obsolete.† c. ? An abscess or swelling thought to resemble a worm in shape. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > pain in specific parts > [noun] > in stomach or bowels
womb achea1398
gnawing1398
torsionc1425
colicc1440
frettingc1440
the wormc1500
wringc1500
griping1526
wresting?1543
wringing?1550
bellyache1552
torment1578
colic passion1586
wind-colic1593
belly-thrawe1595
belly-grinding1597
fret1600
gripe1601
wrenching1607
mulligrubsa1625
bellywarka1652
torminaa1655
efferation1684
stomach-ache1763
gastrodynia1804
guts-ache1818
stony colic1822
wame-ill1829
gastralgia1834
tummy ache1926
c1500 Roule's Cursing 57 in Maitland Fo. (1919) 163 The worme, the wareit vedumfa [= wedenonfa'].
c1633 A. Johnston Diary (1911) I. 12 That Sunday..schoe took the worme at midnight, begoud to cast, and so contineued al Mononday.
1654 A. Johnston Diary (1919) 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. Scottish ? Obsolete.Cf. Shakespeare Much Ado iii. ii. 25.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > pain in specific parts > [noun] > in teeth
toothache1377
teeth-workc1440
tooth-warkc1480
the worma1583
tooth-pain?1593
odontalgy1651
odontalgia1706
tooth-aching1709
tooth-edge1794
teeth-ache1890
a1583 A. Montgomerie Flyting with Polwart (Tullibard. MS.) 301 The choikis, the charbunkill, with þe wormis in thy cheikis.
a1646 D. Wedderburn Vocabula (1685) 20 Laborat dolore dentium, he hath the worm.
1881 W. Gregor Notes Folk-lore N.-E. Scotl. 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 J. Service Thir Notandums vii. 44 The auld man was girnin' wi' the worm.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > [noun] > a suppuration > abscess
aposteme1340
felon1340
postumea1398
exiturea1400
imposthumec1400
buboc1425
impostumation1524
ancome1538
meliceris1562
undimy1562
rising1568
abscess1574
abscession1583
nail1600
the worm1607
apostematea1627
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 432 If a horse do labor in what kind of impostume which they vulgarly call the worme, either any where as well as in the nose, they do open the skin with a searirg [read searing] yron.
III. Something with a spiral thread or form; (also) a ligament or tendon.
13. figurative.1599 Master Broughtons Lett. Answered 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.
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 n.Also †greedy worm or †hungry worm: see greedy adj. Compounds 2, hungry adj. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > parts of > (parts of) head, neck and face
race?1523
worm1530
rake1685
apple head1830
hackles1839
stop1867
butterfly nose1878
lay-back1894
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 227/1 Gredy worme that is in a dogges tong.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Lytta, a worme in a dogges tongue.
1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things ii. 38 If the lyttle Nerue vnder a Whelps tongue (commonly called the greedy worme) be taken away, it keepes the same safe after from being madde.
1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ Returne of Pasquill sig. Bivv Full of play like a wanton whelpe, whose worme was not taken out of his tongue.
1608 Bp. J. Hall Pharisaisme & Christianity 85 O thou worldling, which hast the greedy-worm vnder thy tong with Esaies dogs, and neuer hast enough.
1654 C. Wase tr. Gratius Cynegeticon sig. B 8v Where the tongue is with fast tendons bound, The fury (call'd a worme) is thence convey'd.
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. v. 101 The common People imagine them troubled with what they call the Hungry-Worm under the Tongue... There is no such Thing as the Worm under a Dog's Tongue.
1868 R. Owen On Anat. Vertebr. III. 197 The long cylindrical fibrous body..called ‘lytta’, and in Dogs, where it attains its largest size, ‘the worm’.
b. A tendon in a dog's tail, often cut or pulled out when the tail is being docked.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > parts of > (parts of) tail
trundle-taila1640
whip tail1709
screw-tail1820
ringtail1871
worm1877
otter tail1932
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 Latin anatomical terms.† a. The epididymis (see quot. 1545 and cf. wormy adj. 2). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > secretory organs > gland > specific glands > [noun] > testicle or testicles > parts of
didymis1543
worm1545
parastata1578
epididymis1612
paradidymis1876
parorchis1878
1545 T. Raynald in tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde i. sig. G.iiiiv This parte of the seede cariars may be called the wurme: in latyn, Corpus lumbricosum: for bycause that it hath many conuolucyons as wormes lyeng together haue.
b. The median lobe of the cerebellum; the vermis or vermiform process.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > brain > parts of brain > [noun] > lobe or lobule
nates?1545
lobe1672
testis1681
vermiform process1836
olfactory lobe1837
island of Reil1840
rhinencephalon1846
worm1857
precuneus1879
insula1886
vermis1890
tonsil1891
1857 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (rev. ed.) 985/1
1899 in New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon
15.
a. An artificial or natural object resembling an earthworm.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [noun] > winding curve(s) > thing having
windingc1050
tortuosity1646
vermiculation1670
worm1702
crinkum-crankum1766
wriggle1825
serpentine1885
1702 London 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. plural. The coiled pods of Astragalus hamosus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > milk-vetch > coiled pods of
worms1849
1849 Gardeners' Chron. 3 Feb. 96 Vegetable and Flower Seeds..Hedgehogs per paper 0s. 3d...Snails 0s. 3d...Worms 0s. 3d.
1902 Cycl. Amer. Hort.: R–Z 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. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for altering dimensions > [noun] > press > parts of presses
worm1548
platen1594
follower1678
thrusting-screw1794
ram1816
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Cochlea,..the vice or wourme of a presse.
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.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > ball or wad extractor
screw1562
tireball1591
worm1591
wad hook1611
ball-drawer1844
1591 G. Clayton Approoued Order Martiall Discipline i. 17 Euery Souldiour to haue a sufficient Caliuer,..rammer, worme [etc.].
?1594 H. Barwick Breefe Disc. Weapons 8 His scrues and wormes to serue all for his skowring sticke.
1600–1 in Trans. Devonshire Assoc. Adv. Sci. (1894) 26 351 Pd..the makinge cleane of the musketts & for a worme & scowerer.
1703 tr. L. de Lahontan New Voy. N.-Amer. I. 132 My Men began..to unload their Pieces with Worms, in order to charge 'em afresh.
1708 London 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 Pennsylvania Gaz. 9 Feb. (Suppl.) 2/3 Best double worm, box handle, single worm, ash handle.
c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 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.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > auger or gimlet
augereOE
wimble1295
wimble?1362
gimletc1420
tarrierc1460
borel1488
wimbrekin1489
screw1577
nail piercer1584
worm1594
nail-passer1662
wimblet1670
1594 H. Plat Diuerse Sorts of Soyle 28 in Jewell House 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 P. Nicholson Mech. Exercises 34 At the lower end [of the auger] is a worm or screw of a conic form, for entering the wood.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Worm 6.
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Worm, a gimlet.
d. The thread or spiral ridge of a male screw.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > screw > thread
thread1674
worm1678
screw thread1812
fillet1869
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. 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 Acad. Armory iii. 321/2 The Screw-Pin (of a vice) is cut with a square strong Worm or Thred.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture 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 Naval 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 20 254 He..made the thread of the worm too fine.
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 152 Fly-screws and others having several worms.
1884 Longman's 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.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > screw > thread > types of thread
worm1725
drunkenness1786
square thread1838
V-threada1877
buttress thread1882
knuckle-thread1887
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at 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 C. D. E. 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’ Secret of 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > providing or serving drink > [noun] > serving liquor > utensils for
wine basketc950
faucet?a1400
claretc1440
tilter1630
simpulum1672
worm1681
valentia1688
screw1697
bottle screw1699
corkscrew1720
cyathus1768
toddy ladle1807
valinch1823
champagne fountain1835
wine-wagon1848
beer-tray1862
beer-pull1864
oenochoe1871
bottle opener1872
kovsh1884
toddy-lifter1894
set-up1930
beer-mat1939
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iii. §i. v. 303 A Steel Worme used for the drawing of Corks out of Bottles.
1703 Philos. Trans. 1702–3 (Royal Soc.) 23 1367 A close spiral revolution like the Worm of a Bottle Screw.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Worm,..The spiral of a cork-screw.
1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. Worm, a corkscrew.
g. An endless or tangent screw the thread of which gears with the teeth of a toothed wheel (or similar device).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > wheel > [noun] > cog or gear > with endless screw > endless screw
endless screw?1575
perpetual screw1648
worm1730
1730 J. T. Desaguliers in Philos. Trans. 1729–30 (Royal Soc.) 36 197 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 D. Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Philos.: Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, & Heat §145 This wheel revolves on an axis, upon which there is a worm or endless screw.
1863 S. 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 R. J. 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.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > still > [noun] > coiled pipe
serpentine1519
worm1651
1651 J. French Art Distillation i. 25 Put it into a Copper Still with a worme.
1682 London Gaz. No, 1686/4 Six Backs, several Stills and Worms.
1757 A. Cooper Compl. Distiller i. 2 A subsequent Treatment of the fermented Liquor by the Alembic, or hot Still, with its proper Worm and Refrigeratory.
1885 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Prophet Great Smoky Mountains 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.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > parts of furnace > [noun] > flues or parts of flues
boshes1686
worm1758
throat vent1839
take-down1850
baffler1861
trunnel-hole1868
velvet tree1875
baffle1881
throat1919
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > boiler > [noun] > parts of > tubes or pipes
water tube1720
tube1833
water head1856
worm1857
cross-tubea1884
furnace-tube1888
feed collector1902
1758 R. 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 Rusticum 6 299 They [sc. two caldrons] may be set in the open fire, without any flew or worm round them, in an oven-like furnace.
1857 W. A. Miller Elements Chem. III. 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.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [noun] > part of > spring
spring1428
sprent1511
gin1591
resort1598
worm1724
worm-spring1730
scape-spring1825
leaf spring1855
blade-spring1863
nest spring1866
tension spring1877
coil spring1890
1724 London Gaz. No. 6318/2 A Steel Worm or Rowling Spring,..to be used in hanging of Coaches.
1840 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 3 172/2 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.
Compounds
C1.
a.
(a) General attributive.
wormfinger n.
ΚΠ
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 525 Jogging, mocks them with thumb and wriggling wormfingers.
worm-kind n.
ΚΠ
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 166 Animals of the worm kind..being entirely destitute of feet.
worm-tribe n.
ΚΠ
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 5 This may serve to distinguish them [sc. caterpillars] from the worm tribe.
(b) Objective.
worm-breeding adj.
ΚΠ
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Vermifero, worme-breeding.
(c) Instrumental.
worm-cankered adj.
ΚΠ
1830 Ld. Tennyson Sonn. to J. M. K. 6 Thou art no sabbath-drawler of old saws, Distill'd from some worm-canker'd homily.
worm-chewed adj.
ΚΠ
1927 D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico 28 Rattling the worm-chewed window-frames.
worm-consumed adj.
ΚΠ
1612 J. Davies Muses Sacrifice in Wks. (Grosart) II. 65/1 The Worme-consumèd Corse.
worm-gnawed adj.
ΚΠ
1793 ‘P. Pindar’ Poet. Epist. to Pope 76 The wise Parisians mock her worm-gnaw'd shrine.
worm-gnawn adj.
ΚΠ
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 425 Th' old, rusty, mouldy, worme-gnawne words of yore.
worm-laid adj.
ΚΠ
1933 C. S. Lewis Pilgrim's Regress 248 Once the worm-laid egg broke the wood.
worm-riddled adj.
ΚΠ
1893 ‘Q’ Delectable Duchy 117 A glance up at the worm-riddled rafters.
worm-spun adj.
ΚΠ
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 73v Though we glister it neuer so in our worme-spunne robes.
worm-worn adj.
ΚΠ
1820 W. M. Praed Eve of Battle 119 Sleep, in Honour's worm-worn bed.
1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham II. xxvi. 266 Worm-worn volumes.
(d) Dative.
worm-reserved adj.
ΚΠ
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 59 I am the vnworthiest of all worme-reserued wretches.
worm-ripe adj.
ΚΠ
1893 J. Strong New Era xi. 247 This morbid, worm-ripe piety, once in favor.
(e) Parasynthetic.
worm-faced adj.
ΚΠ
1934 D. Thomas Let. 12 Apr. in Sel. Lett. (1966) 105 Avaunt, you worm-faced fellows of the night.
worm-resembling adj.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Vermiformes, two worme-resembling parts of the Cervelet.
worm-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1768 Philos. Trans. 1767 (Royal Soc.) 57 430 When it is extended, it is of a worm-shaped figure.
?1870 P. M. Duncan Transformations Insects xii. 384 The larvæ are worm-shaped.
1922 E. von Arnim Enchanted April (1989) ix. 138 Mrs. Fisher had never cared for maccaroni, especially not this long, worm-shaped variety.
b. (In sense 8b.)
(a) † worm-poke n. Obsolete
worm-bag n.
ΚΠ
1909 W. C. Platts Light Lines 83 Scudding across the meadows, with his rod and his worm-bag, to the river.
worm-bait n.
ΚΠ
1842 G. P. R. Pulman Rustic Sketches 48 On the Axe the only kind of worm-bait used is the blackhead or bluehead.
worm farm n.
ΚΠ
1880 F. T. Buckland Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes 10 A worm farm at Nottingham.
worm-hook n.
ΚΠ
1747 R. Bowlker Art Angling 64 This is a very large Fly, and is to be made upon a small Worm-hook.
1837 J. Kirkbride Northern Angler 12 In Carlisle..we speak of..large worm, middle, and small worm hooks.
ΚΠ
?1630 W. Lauson Comm. Dennys' Secrets Angling Note 13 Worme poake of cloath.
worm-tackle n.
ΚΠ
1835 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. Jan. 390/3 First of all, the worm-tackle. For this, sizeable hooks..are generally preferred.
1847 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Compan. 108 In preparing worm-tackle.
worm-tin n.
ΚΠ
1906 Macmillan's Mag. Apr. 417 The rod, basket, and..the worm-tin.
(b)
worm-bobber n.
ΚΠ
1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & Widows I. i. 11 He is a mere worm-bobber—cannot throw a fly or spin a minnow.
worm-catcher n.
ΚΠ
1880 F. T. Buckland Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes 11 A short gentleman, like you, sir,..would never make a worm-catcher.
worm-catching n.
ΚΠ
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.
worm-fisher n.
ΚΠ
1847 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Compan. 115 The worm-fisher ought..always to possess a stock of it [hart's-horn moss].
1904 W. M. Gallichan Fishing & Trav. Spain 64 The worm fisher has his opportunity when the streams are in spate.
worm-fishing n.
ΚΠ
1842 G. P. R. Pulman Rustic Sketches 48 Worm-fishing is followed with greatest success..during the season of mowing grass.
1857 W. C. Stewart Pract. Angler (ed. 3) vii. 133 Fly-fishers are apt to sneer at worm-fishing.
worm-hunter n.
ΚΠ
1865 A. S. Moffat Secrets of Angling 165 If the worm-hunter only takes care to tread softly upon the bosom of his mother earth.
1890 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 26 159 The worm-hunter will turn over every likely stone or rubbish heap which comes in his path.
worm-hunting n.
ΚΠ
1852 Zoologist 10 3421 He employed himself in this worm-hunting for a considerable time.
(c) † worm-embowelled adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1608 J. Day Humour out of Breath sig. B3v And see if any siluer-coated fish, Will nibble at your worme-emboweld hooks.
c. (In sense 4.)
(a)
worm-colic n.
ΚΠ
1810 C. James New Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Worm-cholic, a distemper in horses, occasioned by broad, thick, and short worms or truncheons.
worm-disease n.
ΚΠ
1844 R. Dunglison Dict. Med. Sci. (ed. 4) at Helminthiasis It is, also, called..worm disease.
worm-fever n.
ΚΠ
1792 J. Townsend Journey Spain (ed. 2) II. Index Worm fever.
1899 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Worm fever, pyrexia consequent on the irritation set up by intestinal worms.
worm-sickness n.
ΚΠ
1899 in New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Worm-sickness, a severe disease occurring among sheep in Holland, set up by the fly Lucilia sericata.
(b) Also in names of remedies.
worm-cake n.
ΚΠ
1773 Pennsylvania Gaz. Suppl. 23 June 2/3 (advt.) 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.
worm-lozenge n.
ΚΠ
1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage ii. iv. 48 If Mary had taken some of her nice worm-lozenges.
1889 A. H. Buck Ref. Handbk. Med. Sci. VIII. 2/1 The popular ‘worm lozenges’.
worm-medicine n.
ΚΠ
1714 J. Purcell Treat. Cholick 177 Two Girls..were seized with most violent Cholicks,..which no Clysters, Purges or Worm Medecines could appease.
1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 2 151 Recommenders of some newly-broached worm-medicines.
worm-powder n.
ΚΠ
1716 A. Pope (title) To the ingenious Mr. Moore, author of the celebrated worm-powder.
worm-preventive n.
ΚΠ
1868 A. B. Garrod Essentials Materia Medica (ed. 3) 404 The worm-preventives are medicines which give tone to the intestinal membrane.
worm-syrup n.
ΚΠ
1773 Pennsylvania Gaz. 30 June 3/3 (advt.) A new invented Worm-Syrup.
1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 104. 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.
worm-tea n.
ΚΠ
1850 J. Pereira Elements Materia Medica (ed. 3) II: Pt. i. 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.
(c)
worm-killing adj.
ΚΠ
1764 S. Foote Mayor of Garret i. 6 You..worm-killing, blistering, glistering ——.
d. (In sense 16g.)
(a)
worm-drive n.
ΚΠ
1907 Westm. Gaz. 19 Nov. 4/2 This machine..retains..the silent worm-drive.
worm-gear n.
ΚΠ
1884 Birmingham Daily Post 24 Jan. 3/1 Wanted, 10 ton Foundry Ladle, extra strong, with worm gear.
worm-gearing n.
ΚΠ
1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. Worm Gearing..has an arrangement for transmitting circular motion in either direction.
1904 R. J. Mecredy Dict. Motoring 128 Worm gearing is used in the steering apparatus for adjustments.
worm-jack n.
ΚΠ
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iii. 37 Fig. 1. is call'd a Worm-Jack.
worm-pinion n.
ΚΠ
1913 A. B. F. Young & W. G. Aston Compl. Motorist (ed. 8) 177 A worm-driven axle with the worm pinion underneath.
worm-rack n.
ΚΠ
1891 Cent. Dict. Worm-rack, a rack gearing with a worm-wheel.
worm-screw n.
ΚΠ
1677 J. Flamsteed Let. 25 May in Corr. (1995) I. 557 To this a toothed arch was fastened by the helpe of which and a worme screwe, the peece of woode..might be raised or depressed easily.
1835 A. 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.
worm-shaft n.
ΚΠ
1839 A. 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].
worm-spindle n.
ΚΠ
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iii. 44 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.
worm-thread n.
ΚΠ
1925 Chambers's Jrnl. May 332/2 The worm-thread and the teeth in the strip are square and of great strength.
worm-wheel n.
ΚΠ
1678Worm-wheel [see worm-spindle n.].
1842 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 5 73/1 A vertical shaft, on the bottom of which is a worm, taking into a worm-wheel.
1925 Chambers's Jrnl. May 332/1 An ideal clip for hose connections..based on the worm and worm-wheel principle.
(b)
worm-geared adj.
ΚΠ
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.
e. (In sense 16h and similar applications.)
worm-cooler n.
ΚΠ
1812 Ann. Reg., Chron. 35 A large worm cooler, which contained nearly 60,000 gallons of water.
worm-maker n.
ΚΠ
1793 Matthews's New Bristol Directory 1793–4 31 Pewterers, Worm-makers, and Copper-smiths.
worm-pipe n.
ΚΠ
1850 Young Patent in Law Times Rep. 10 861/1 The coal is..put into a common gas retort, to which is attached a worm pipe passing through a refrigerator.
worm refrigeratory n.
ΚΠ
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 6 A clean copper still, furnished with a capital and worm-refrigeratory.
worm-safe n.
ΚΠ
1853 A. Ure Dict. Arts (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.
worm-tank n.
ΚΠ
1865 G. W. Gesner A. Gesner's Pract. Treat. Coal (ed. 2) iv. 79 The worm is..fastened securely by iron stays..into the worm tank.
worm-tub n.
ΚΠ
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 158 Barbadoes Cedar..is..frequently made into worm-tubs.
1757 A. Cooper Compl. Distiller i. xvi. 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.
C2. Special combinations.† worm-earth n. Obsolete = worm-cast n.† worm-fowl n. Obsolete collective birds that feed on worms.† worm-fret adj. [fret, obsolete past participle of fret v.1] Obsolete worm-eaten.† worm line n. Obsolete a spiral.† worms' kitchen n. Obsolete (with the) the grave.† worm-state n. Obsolete the larval stage in insect transformation.† worm-stone n. Obsolete a spirally-twisted fossil.† worm-tongued adj. Obsolete (see sense 10).† worm-work n. Obsolete ? a winding earthwork.
worm-bark n. the anthelmintic bark of the West Indian cabbage-tree, Andira inermis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > remedies for parasitic infections > [noun] > vermifuge or anthelminthic > plant-derived
wormseedc1503
santonica1658
worm-grass1756
filix mas1789
worm-barkc1791
cowage1801
kamala1820
wormseed oil1830
Mucuna1836
santonin1838
Corsican moss1849
kousso1851
worm-oil1855
crab-oil1858
tallicoona oil1866
kainic acid1954
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > cabbage-bark tree > bark
worm-barkc1791
Suriname bark1844
c1791 Encycl. Brit. VII. 631/2 Geoffræa,..also called the worm-bark tree.
1860 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. Worm-Bark,..the bark of the Geoffræa Surinamensis.
worm-burrow n. the hole made by a worm in the earth; a fossil perforation of this sort.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > division Vermes > [noun] > member of (worm) > hole made by worm
worm-burrow1859
1859 D. Page Handbk. Geol. Terms 75 Arenicolites,..those circular holes..which appear..on the upper surface of many sandstones, and which seem to have been worm-burrows.
1883 Science 1 520/2 The more slender side-roots descend chiefly through worm-burrows.
1914 Brit. Mus.: Return 213 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 186) LXXI. 193 One worm-burrow from the Cambrian of Bray Head.
worm-cast n. the convoluted mass of mould thrown up by an earthworm on the surface of the soil after passing through the worm's body; also transferred.
ΚΠ
1766 Compl. Farmer at Walk Which will be of service to prevent weeds from growing through the gravel, and to hinder worm-casts.
1862 Chambers's Encycl. III. 740/2 (Earthworm) Worm-casts gradually accumulate on the surface to form a layer of the very finest soil.
1913 E. F. Benson Thorley Weir iii. He squirted on to it [sc. a palette] worm-casts of colour.
worm-casting n.
ΚΠ
1881 C. Darwin Form. Veg. Mould 10 On such grassy paths worm-castings may often be seen.
worm-conveyor n. (see quot. 1910 and conveyor n. 4b).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > screw
auger1880
worm-conveyor1884
1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts 3rd Ser. 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.
ΚΠ
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 2 Worm-earths also abound most in the richest land.
worm-fence n. U.S. = snake-fence n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hedge or fence > a fence > zig-zag fence
Virginia fence1671
worm-fence1724
snake-fence1805
1724 H. Jones Present State Virginia 39 Wormfences..are made of Rails supporting one another very firmly in a particular Manner.
1833 T. Hamilton Men & Manners Amer. I. viii. 261 The worm fences, and the freshness and regularity of the houses, are sadly destructive of the picturesque.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes II. vi. 150 The primitive worm-fence is universal, and an ugly thing it is.
a1844 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [noun] > that eats specific things
worm-fowlc1381
seed fowlc1500
thistle-eater1562
chipper1668
honeyeater1688
wheat-bird1747
falcon-fisher1759
worm-eater1760
bone-breaker1787
seed eater1820
carrion-bird1839
seed feeder1853
fish-tiger1879
c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 505 I..wol sey my veyrdit..For watir foule... And I for worme foule, seyde the foole cukkowe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [adjective] > by loss of material or wasted > worm-eaten
wormetec1000
worm-fret1430
wormyc1430
worm-eatena1475
worm-eat1597
vermiculated1623
wormed1846
1430–40 J. Lydgate tr. Bochas Fall of Princes i. 6566 Wermfrete stokkes.
worm-killer n. a preparation for destroying garden worms.
ΚΠ
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.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > coil > [noun] > a spiral
worm line1551
spire1611
spiral1656
1551 R. Record Pathway to 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.
worm month n. Scottish and Irish English (northern) July (or the second half of July and first half of August); cf. Danish ormemaaned.
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the world > time > period > a month or calendar month > specific months > [noun] > July
AfterlitheOE
Julyc1300
quintile1606
Mead-month1681
worm month1782
1782 J. Ramsay in Allardyce Scot. & Scotsmen 18th Cent. (1888) II. 256 It looked like February than the worm month.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Worm-month..the month of July, Perths…from the hatching of many kinds of reptiles in this month.
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Worm month,..a fortnight before and a fortnight after Lammas.
worm-oil n. = wormseed oil n. at wormseed n. Compounds.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > remedies for parasitic infections > [noun] > vermifuge or anthelminthic > plant-derived
wormseedc1503
santonica1658
worm-grass1756
filix mas1789
worm-barkc1791
cowage1801
kamala1820
wormseed oil1830
Mucuna1836
santonin1838
Corsican moss1849
kousso1851
worm-oil1855
crab-oil1858
tallicoona oil1866
kainic acid1954
1855 J. Ogilvie Suppl. Imperial Dict. Worm-oil.
worm pipe-fish n. Syngnathus (Nerophis) lumbriciformis.
ΚΠ
1835 L. Jenyns Man. Brit. Vertebr. Animals 488 Syngnathus lumbriciformis, Nob. (Worm Pipe-Fish).
worm red adj. ? dull brownish red; also n.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [adjective] > brownish-red
rustya1398
hepaticc1420
horseflesh1530
rubiginousa1538
iron1587
bricky1615
ferrugineous1633
sand-reda1639
brickish1648
ferruginous1656
lateritious1656
brick-coloured1675
blood bay1684
testaceous1688
rust-coloureda1691
brick-red1740
brick-dust-like1765
maroon1771
rufous1782
brick-dusty1817
rusted1818
worm red1831
brownish-red1832
brown-red1835
foxy1850
rust1854
henna-coloured1865
chestnut-red1882
terra-cotta1882
copper-red1883
fox-red1910
oxblood1918
tony1921
henna-brown1931
henna-red2002
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > brownish red
rufe?c1400
red-fallowc1425
colour-de-roy1531
roy1549
red roan1639
rubiginy1657
rust1716
brick-red1759
brick-dust red1776
morone1777
maroon1779
rufous1783
brick1793
tile-red1805
brick dusta1807
worm red1831
cinnamon-red1882
chaudron1883
rosewood1897
tony1921
1831 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal I. 309 The files..are then heated..to a sort of worm-red.
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 80 The [sword-] blade is then hardened..by the smith heating it in the fire until it becomes worm red.
1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 252 The pot is then placed in a bright coal fire, where it remains till the whole is of a worm red.
worm-shell n. the twisted shell or tube of a marine annelid or mollusc, as Serpula and Vermetus; also applied to the animal itself.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > member of > aquatic > marine > twisted shell of
worm-shell1666
worm-tube1883
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Holostomata > member of family Vermetidae > shell of
worm-shell1666
worm-tube1883
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > member of > aquatic > marine
sea-worm1681
vermiculusa1728
worm-shell1768
worm-tube1776
1666 C. Merrett Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum 194 Tubuli in quibus vermes, Worm-shells.
1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii VI. Table LIII Great Indian furrowed Worm-shell.
1768 Philos. Trans. 1767 (Royal Soc.) 57 432 The Serpula, or Worm-shell.
1776 E. M. da Costa Elements Conchol. 148 The third family is the Vermiculi, or Worm Shells.
1860 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1859 206 The Ivory Worm-shell (Vermetus eburneus).
1861 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1860 210 Family Vermetidæ. (Worm-Shells.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > grave or burial-place > [noun]
buriels854
througheOE
burianOE
graveOE
lairc1000
lair-stowc1000
lich-restc1000
pitOE
grass-bedOE
buriness1175
earth housec1200
sepulchrec1200
tombc1300
lakec1320
buriala1325
monumenta1325
burying-place1382
resting placea1387
sepulturea1387
beda1400
earth-beda1400
longhousea1400
laystow1452
lying1480
delfa1500
worms' kitchen?a1500
bier1513
laystall1527
funeral?a1534
lay-bed1541
restall1557
cellarc1560
burying-grave1599
pit-hole1602
urn1607
cell1609
hearse1610
polyandrum1627
requietory1631
burial-place1633
mortuary1654
narrow cell1686
ground-sweat1699
sacred place1728
narrow house1792
plot1852
narrow bed1854
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Preaching of Swallow l. 1932 in Poems (1981) 75 The bodie to the wormes keitching go, The saull to fyre.
worm-snake n. a name for various small harmless snakes, as Typhlops nigrescens and Carphophis amoena.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > member of family Typhlopidae
worm-snake1885
fossor1983
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > member of genus Carphophis (worm-snake)
thunder-snake1800
ground-snake1885
worm-snake1885
1885 F. McCoy Prodromus Zool. Victoria xi. 7 Typhlops nigrescens... The Blackish Australian Worm-Snake.
1885 Standard Nat. Hist. III. 362 The genus Carphophis is very generally distributed; in the United States, the species amœna,..as the thunder, ground, or worm-snake, is most familiar.
worm-spring n. a spiral spring.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [noun] > part of > spring
spring1428
sprent1511
gin1591
resort1598
worm1724
worm-spring1730
scape-spring1825
leaf spring1855
blade-spring1863
nest spring1866
tension spring1877
coil spring1890
1730 Philos. Trans. 1729–30 (Royal Soc.) 36 133 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. 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.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > eggs or young > [noun] > young or development of young > larva > larval stage
worm-state1752
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 64 This Insect, in the worm-state, is about the bigness of a louse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > organism > fossil > [noun] > types of
astroite1610
belemnite1646
mussel-stone1660
scallop-stone1668
trochite1676
conchite1677
ophiomorphite1677
pectinite1677
worm-stone1677
musculite1681
serpent-stone1681
sugar-plum1681
glossopetraa1684
ague shell1708
forket1708
mytilite1727
grit1748
phytolithus1761
fairy beads1767
fairy fingers1780
fairy arrow1794
gryphite1794
ram's horn1797
hysterolite1799
tubulite1799
thunder-pick1801
celleporite1808
ceraunite1814
seraph1822
serpulite1828
coprolite1829
subfossil1831
pencil1843
trigonellite1845
buccinite1852
rudist1855
guide fossil1867
witch's cradle1867
coccolith1868
fairy cheeses1869
discolith1871
Portland screw1871
spiniferite1872
cyatholith1875
cryptozoon1883
sabellite1889
palaeospecies1895
homoeomorph1898
rudistid1900
megafossil1932
scolecodont1933
macrofossil1937
hystrichosphere1955
palynomorph1961
acritarch1963
molecular fossil1965
mitrate1967
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 126 At the same rubble Quarries we find also the Lapides vermiculares, or Worm-stones.
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iii. §i. v. 303 The Worme-Stone... Not much unlike a Steel Worme used for the drawing of Corks out of Bottles.
ΚΠ
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 17 Woorme-toungued Oratours, dust-footed Poets, and weatherwise historians.
worm-track n. = helminthite n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > marking > a mark > trace or vestige > [noun] > left by the passage of something > of a person or animal
sleuthc1175
footstepa1300
feutea1375
treadc1400
fewea1425
foil1575
trail1590
carriage1600
sign1692
piste1696
spoor1823
worm-track1859
met1914
1859 D. Page Handbk. Geol. Terms 368 Vermiculites…the smaller..worm-tracks which appear on the surfaces of many flaggy sandstones.
worm-tube n. = worm-shell n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > member of > aquatic > marine
sea-worm1681
vermiculusa1728
worm-shell1768
worm-tube1776
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Mollusca > [noun] > Testacea (shelled molluscs) > shelled mollusc > shell
seashella900
shale1561
buckie1596
caracol1622
valve1661
spire1681
umbilicus1688
conch-shell1697
wart-shell?1711
needle1713
multivalve1753
concha1755
periosteum1758
conch1773
devil's claw1773
furbelow1776
peewit's egg1776
worm-tube1776
rosebud1815
sheath1815
periostracum1833
epicuticle1885
epicuticula1886
leg of mutton1891
trivalve1891
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Holostomata > member of family Vermetidae
worm-tube1776
vermetid1860
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Annelida > [noun] > member of > aquatic > marine > twisted shell of
worm-shell1666
worm-tube1883
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Holostomata > member of family Vermetidae > shell of
worm-shell1666
worm-tube1883
1776 E. M. da Costa Elements Conchol. 285 A single Vermiculus, or Worm-tube.
1883 Science 2 88 2 As the coral grows, it spreads round the worm-tube.
1914 Brit. Mus.: Return 213 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 186) LXXI. 193 A supposed Worm-tube from the Chalk..of Bridlington.
worm-web n. Scottish a cobweb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > member of (spider) > web
webOE
netOE
cobweb1323
lop-webc1400
wevet1499
attercop1530
spider-web1535
caul1548
mouseweb1556
spider coba1571
twail1608
spider's cloth1638
cockweba1642
texturea1774
worm-web1822
1822 J. Galt Sir Andrew Wylie I. xxi. 178 Your Leddyship's character's no a gauze gown or a worm web.
1835 J. Hogg Tales Wars Montrose I. 11 My bed-clothes consisted of a single covering not thicker than a wormweb.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > winding earthwork
worm-work1643
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.
Draft additions 1997
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. 2d.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [noun] > virus
virus1972
worm1975
computer virus1984
malware1990
society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [adjective] > virus or malicious code
virus1972
worm1975
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 25 173/1 We have undertaken the development and operation of several real, multimachine ‘worm’ programs.
1982 Shoch & Hupp in Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery 25 173/1 A worm is simply a computation which lives on one or more machines.
1988 PC Mag. (U.K. ed.) 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.
Draft additions September 2013
worm-burner n. Sport (originally Golf) (chiefly North American). a ball which is hit or struck in such a way that it skims along the ground at high speed; cf. daisy-cutter n. 2.In quot. 1966 as the name of a team of golfers.
ΚΠ
1966 News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, Mich.) 31 May 21/8 Area golfing notes... Credit Union was a 40-20 winner over Worm Burners.
1970 Victoria (Texas) Advocate 7 Sept. He eagled the 10th after what he called a missed tee shot—‘a worm burner’ which stopped 100 yards short on the 315-yard, par 4 hole.
1985 T. C. Boyle Greasy Lake & Other Stories 90 On the first pitch Tool slams a real worm burner to short and the game is going into extra innings.
2006 Fort McMurray (Alberta) Today (Nexis) 25 May A4 I once managed to really wallop a drive, and it was a worm-burner, shooting straight along the ground, until it hit a rock bordering a water hazard.
Draft additions June 2013
worm compost n. compost produced by the digestion of organic matter (typically food, garden, and farm wastes) by earthworms; (also) the organic matter itself, used for composting by earthworms.
ΚΠ
1949 Independent Woman May 157/2 Gee set off a sensation merely by repotting some dying plants in the school cafeteria with worm-compost.
1956 Fisherman's Handbk. (ed. 3) 137/2 If organic materials are used for worm compost, wet thoroughly and turn daily until all the heat is gone before stocking the worms.
1992 Garden Answers Jan. 62/2 Feed onions mid season with worm compost or concentrated manure.
2010 Camarthen Jrnl. (Nexis) 13 Oct. 52 Martins TLC multipurpose compost is a blend of worm compost and coir and is used as a growing medium.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
wormv.
/wəːm/, U.S. /wərm/ I. Senses relating to a burrowing worm.
1. intransitive. To hunt for or catch worms.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting specific animals > hunt specific animal [verb (intransitive)] > hunt bugs, etc.
worm1575
slug1887
bug1889
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie li. 153 When he [sc. the boar] feedeth on fearne or roots, then is it called rowting or fearning, or (as some call it) worming: because when he doth but a little turne vp the grounde with his nose, he seeketh for wormes.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie liii. 154 In soft places where he wormeth.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Vermiller, to worme, to root for wormes.
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husbandry 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. T. Buckland Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes 11 Men, women, and children are employed in ‘worming’.
1899 H. R. Haggard in Longman's Mag. Apr. 520 The old thrush goes on worming without even taking the trouble to look up.
2.
a. transitive. To cause to be eaten by worms; to devour, as a burrowing worm does. Chiefly passive, to be eaten by worms. Also figurative.
ΘΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > devour, engulf, or consume (of fire, water, etc.)
supeOE
eatc950
fretc1000
forthnimc1175
forfret?c1225
to-fret?c1225
swallowa1340
devourc1374
upsoup1382
consumea1398
bisweligha1400
founderc1400
absorb1490
to swallow up1531
upsupa1547
incinerate1555
upswallow1591
fire1592
absume1596
abyss1596
worm1604
depredate1626
to gulp downa1644
whelm1667
1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore i. i. 68 The body, as the Duke spake very wisely, is gone to be wormd.
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (ii. 4) 530 The people called him [sc. 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.
1785 W. 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 J. 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 & P. L. Simmonds Eng. Commerc. Corr. 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. 12 235 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. sense 9c.)
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eat [verb (transitive)] > eat out or through
worm1858
1858 D. Masson Life 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. Senses relating to a parasitic worm, and related uses.
3. † c. to worm a person in the nose: to extract information from him by adroit questioning. Obsolete.Cf. French tirer à quelqu'un les vers du nez.
a. To extract the ‘worm’ or lytta from the tongue of (a dog). (Supposed to be a safeguard against madness: see worm n. 13.)
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping dogs or cats > [verb (transitive)] > extract lytta
worm1575
1575 G. Turberville tr. F. S. Vicentino Treat. Cure Spanels in Bk. Faulconrie 369 It shall be good when Spanell whelpes are one moneth olde..to worme them vnder the toung.
1599 Master Broughtons Lett. Answered i. 6 A dog not wormed while he is yong, will in time proue mad.
a1637 B. Jonson Magnetick Lady i. vii. 44 in Wks. (1640) III Int...Hee Will screw you out a Secret from a Statist ——. Com. So easie, as some Cobler wormes a Dog.
1641 H. Peacham Worth of Peny 21 For a peny you may have your dog worm'd, and so be kept from running mad.
1743 H. Walpole Let. 3 Oct. in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) I. lxxxvii. 256 Patapan is in my lap; I had him wormed lately, which he took heinously.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering I. xii. 105 The men..assisted the laird in his sporting parties, wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies.
1855 R. Browning Protus 50 He wrote the little tract ‘On worming dogs’.
b. transferred and figurative (as a remedy for madness, a ribald tongue, or greediness).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > operations on specific parts or conditions > perform operation on specific part or condition [verb (transitive)] > operations on tongue
worm1564
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 46 You learned your Retorike in the vniuersitee of Bridewell: you were neuer well wormed, when you were young.
1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ Countercuffe sig. Aij The blood and the humors that were taken from him, by launcing and worming him at London vpon the common Stage.
1615 J. Day Festivals 335 Abishai desiring leaue..to go and worme that vnhappy Tongue of his (indeed, to take away his Life) Suffer him to curse saith David.
1619 R. Harris Drunkards Cup 9 He bans, and cannot be quiet till his tongue be wormed.
1623 P. Massinger Duke of Millaine iii. ii. sig. G3 When I had worm'd his tongue, and trussed his hanches.
a1625 J. Fletcher Pilgrim iv. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Hhhhh2/2 Is she growne mad now? Is her blood set so high? Ile have her madded, Ile have her worm'd.
1676 T. Shadwell Virtuoso i. 12 He is such a froward testy old fellow, he should be Wormed like a mad Dog.
a1679 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.
ΘΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > interrogation > extract information [verb (intransitive)]
questiona1470
to worm a person in the nose1613
pump1654
1613 T. Milles tr. P. Mexia et al. Treasurie Auncient & Moderne 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. absolute.1886 C. G. W. Lock Tobacco 69 The usual practice is to worm and sucker while the dew is on in the morning.
a. To rid (plants, esp. tobacco) of ‘worms’ or grubs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivate plants or crops [verb (transitive)] > rid of worms or snails
worm1624
snaila1661
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. 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 J. Milton Animadversions 52 [He] challenges as his right..the clipping of every bush, the weeding and worming of every bed.
1649 W. Bullock Virginia impartially Examined 11 The poore Servant goes daily through the rowes of Tobacco stooping to worme it.
1779 J. Carver Treat. Culture Tobacco Plant iv. 23 This is termed ‘worming the tobacco’.
1864 R. L. De Coin Hist. & Cult. Cotton & Tobacco 274 The plants ought to be wormed—which means searched and cleared of worms—at least once a week.
b. To treat (an animal) with a preparation designed to free it of parasitic worms.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > veterinary medicine and surgery > practise veterinary medicine and surgery [verb (transitive)] > give specific treatment
scour1489
setter1551
rowel1566
drench1672
salt1898
fistulate1902
worm1932
deworm1934
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. Senses relating to sinuous or insidious movement.† 5. To pry into the secrets of (a person); to play the spy upon. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > spy on [verb (transitive)] > pry
spya1325
to pry into ——1581
worm1607
peer1838
1607 F. Beaumont Woman Hater iii. iii. sig. F1v O hee is a very subtill and a dangerous knaue, but if a deale a Gods name, we shall worme him.
a1625 J. Fletcher Wit without Money (1639) iv. iv. sig. Gv Ile teach you to worme me good Lady sister, and peepe 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 Columbiad iv. 144 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. ? Obsolete.
ΘΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > obtain or acquire in a certain way > by asking, entreaty, or importunity
getc1330
emprent?c1400
impetrea1450
impetrate1533
importunate1605
to worm (a person) out of1617
exorate1623
wheedle1670
stout1812
the world > action or operation > safety > escape > escape from [verb (transitive)] > contrive to escape or evade > a difficulty
to worm (a person) out of1617
wrigglea1646
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > defraud or swindle > out of something
beguile1394
wrongc1484
delude1493
licka1500
to wipe a person's nose1577
uncle1585
cheat1597
cozen1602
to bob of1605
to bob out of1605
gull1612
foola1616
to set in the nick1616
to worm (a person) out of1617
shuffle1627
to baffle out of1652
chouse1654
trepan1662
bubble1668
trick1698
to bamboozle out of1705
fling1749
jockey1772
swindle1780
twiddle1825
to diddle out of1829
nig1829
to chisel out of1848
to beat out1851
nobble1852
duff1863
flim-flam1890
1617 W. Fennor Compters Common-wealth 10 It was onely a tricke to worme mee out of my money.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry IV xi, in Poems (1878) IV. 3 Richard (whom late wee left dethron'd) is not Worne from the Storye, though worm'd out of King.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Worm'd out of, Rookt, Cheated, Trickt.
1718 J. Ozell tr. J. Pitton de Tournefort Voy. Levant I. 58 This gave us a suspicion..that they jointly contriv'd to worm us out of this Mony.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. iii. viii. 310 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.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (transitive)] > expel > by subtle means
to worm out1594
1594 J. Lyly Mother Bombie ii. ii. sig. E4 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 Religio Medici (authorized ed.) 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. View more context for this quotation
a1662 P. Heylyn Cyprianus Angl. (1671) i. 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 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 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's New World of Words (new ed.) To Worm, to work one out of a Place, &c.
1714 R. Fiddes Pract. Disc. (ed. 2) 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 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Worm, to worm out,..also to undermine, or supplant.
1811 C. Lamb in Reflector 2 353 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).
ΘΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > interrogation > question, interrogate [verb (transitive)] > extract information
to worm out1716
1716 J. Addison Drummer ii. 17 I fancy..thou could'st worm it [sc. a secret] out of her.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Worm, to worm out, to obtain the knowledge of a secret by craft.
1804 M. Edgeworth Will ix, in Pop. Tales I. 233 I do not want to worm your secret from you.
1807 G. Crabbe Birth Flattery in Poems 193 I..Who've loos'd a Guinea from a Miser's Chest, And worm'd his Secret from a Traitor's Breast.
1840 W. M. Thackeray Catherine xi Old Wood knew all her history... He had wormed it out of her, day by day.
1844 A. Smith Adventures Mr. Ledbury I. xx. 266 He was able..to worm out a description of the locality.
1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel III. x. xx. 202 By little and little our juvenile Talleyrand..wormed out from Dick this grievance.
1863 C. C. Clarke Shakespeare-characters iii. 68 He counsels his mother not to let the king worm from her his secret.
1865 S. Baring-Gould Bk. Were-wolves v. 62 The judge ordered one of his peasants to visit the man, and to worm the truth out of him.
1900 ‘A. 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.
Π
1848 C. Kingsley Yeast in Fraser's Mag. Nov. 538/1 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. intransitive. To move or progress sinuously like a worm; also transferred of things. Usually with adverb, as about, along, up, down, or preposition, as in, into (a confined space). Also, to move windingly through; to twine or twist about (something).
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > writhing or twisting movement > writhe or twist [verb (intransitive)] > move sinuously
wrinkle1565
wringle1596
erch1601
worm1610
serpent1818
snake1902
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move progressively in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > with sinuous or writhing motion
writhec1275
wriggle1602
squirm1759
worm1802
eel1922
1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 53 Thousand flaming serpents hissing flew..And woorming all about his soule they clung.
1802 G. Colman Broad Grins 116 He [a drunk man] work'd, with sinuosities, along, Like Monsieur Corkscrew, worming thro' a Cork.
1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans II. iii. 53 I little like that smoke which you may see worming up along the rock above the canoe.
1845 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 2) 129 Through seas and buried mountains..have we wormed Down to the ever burning forge of fire.
1884 Cent. Mag. 29 139 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.
1897 R. S. S. Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign xvi. 409 The caves and their passages worm about inside the koppie.
b. reflexive in same sense.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move progressively in specific manner [verb (reflexive)] > move along by wriggling or writhing
wriggle1573
worm1865
snake1887
weevle1889
1865 P. H. 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 & H. 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 adverbial accusative, as to worm one's way. Also of figurative progress (cf. 10a).
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > make (way) by writhing or wriggling
worm1822
to writhe one's way1836
swiggle1837
slime1842
wriggle1863
snake1879
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > change direction of movement [verb (intransitive)] > move in winding course
to turn and winda1398
wreathea1500
twine1553
indent1567
virea1586
crank1594
to dance the hay or hays1600
maze1605
serpent1606
to indent the way1612
cringlea1629
indenture1631
circumgyre1634
twist1635
glomerate1638
winda1682
serpentine1767
meander1785
zigzag1787
zag1793
to worm one's way1822
vandyke1828
crankle1835
thread the needle1843
switchback1903
rattlesnake1961
zig1969
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. I. 354 Fistulous ulcers..have sometimes..wormed a sinuous path, and opened into the vagina.
1845 J. Lingard Hist. & Antiq. Anglo-Saxon Church (ed. 3) 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.
1861 F. B. Head Stokers & Pokers (new ed.) iii. 39 A number of newspaper-vendors..are worming their way through the crowd.
1869 A. Trollope He knew he was Right II. lxii. 103 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. figurative.
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).
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > jealousy or envy > be or become jealous or envious [verb (intransitive)] > become embedded (of jealousy or envy)
worm1627
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > introduction or bringing in > be infused or introduced into [verb (intransitive)] > intrude
obtrudea1575
insinuate1601
screw1614
worm1627
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > be stealthy [verb (intransitive)] > intrude stealthily
creepc1380
steala1586
screw1614
worm1627
sap1733
weasel1963
1627 P. Fletcher Locustæ 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 Church-rents ii, in Temple ii But when debates and fretting jealousies Did worm and work within you more and more, Your colour faded.
1639 J. Saltmarsh Pract. Policie 231 Vse subtle and crafty men, they will search, and skrew, and worme into busines of difficulty.
1833 L. Ritchie Wanderings by Loire 138 I worm into their secrets like a being of supernatural power.
1868 Cornhill Mag. July 68 We cannot pause to tell how imposters..wormed into his confidence.
1881 Ld. Tennyson Cup i. i. 54 And once there I warrant I worm thro' all their windings.
1893 in J. H. Barrows World's Parl. 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. reflexive. To insinuate oneself into (a person's favour or confidence, a desirable position, etc.).
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > advance or progress [verb (reflexive)] > raise oneself in rank, power, or prosperity > by insidious methods
wriggle1670
worm1711
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > introduction or bringing in > infuse [verb (reflexive)] > intrude or insinuate > of a person
ingyre1513
thrust1530
wind1548
wreathea1571
insinuate1578
screw1602
foist1603
wimble1605
wriggle1670
worm1711
1711 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 1 Aug. (1948) I. 324 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 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. iii. iii. 346 If you have management enough to worm yourself into his confidence.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. vi. 112 Worm yourself into her secrets; I know you can.
1853 C. Reade Christie Johnstone iii Flucker,..with admirable smoothness and cunning, wormed himself into cabin-boy on board the yacht.
1871 W. H. Dixon Tower III. v. 45 He was to worm himself into the family councils.
1911 J. H. Rose Pitt & Great War xx. 432 This was before Wedderburn had wormed himself into favour with Lord North.
11. transitive with predicate-extension: To move (an object) off, down, through, etc. by a gradual tortuous propulsion or dragging.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > impel or drive [verb (transitive)] > by or with spiral or tortuous movement
wringa1400
screw1635
worma1861
a1861 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 Harvesting Ants i. 33 We measured a tunnel [formed by ants] by worming a straw down it.
1888 R. L. Stevenson Black Arrow iv. vi. 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. Senses relating to a thread or screw.
12. [See worm n. 16d, 3e] To make a screw-thread on. †to worm in, to screw in; to insert and secure by screwing.
ΘΠ
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > with twisting
to wring in1579
writhe1583
wrest1597
to worm in1605
warp1803
wrestle1821
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with screws
vice1542
screw?1597
to worm in1605
to screw down1683
tap1869
coach-screw1874
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with screws > furnish with screw-thread
worm1605
tap1808
thread1858
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 374 He hatcheth Files, and winding Vices wormeth.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 70 It hath four Iron Hooks..whose Shanks are Wormed in.
1868 J. E. T. Rogers Man. Polit. Econ. x. 128 A smith may be engaged generally in forging or worming screws.
1884 M. Mackenzie Man. 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. Nautical. 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.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (transitive)] > wrap (to prevent chafing)
keckle1627
worm1706
pudding1711
graftc1860
1644 [implied in: H. Mainwaring Sea-mans Dict. 116 Worming is the laying of a small-roape, or line alongst, betwixt the strands of a cabell or hawser. (at worming n. 6a)].
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) To Worm a Cable, or Hawser,..to succour or strengthen it, by winding a small Rope all along between the Strands.
1730 W. Wriglesworth MS. Log-bk. of ‘Lyell’ 22 Sept. Got our Main Stay down, Wormed the lower end of it.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms at Emmieller un étai To worm a stay.
1799 Hull Advertiser 13 Apr. 2/2 60 fathom of cable, part of which is wormed.
1860 H. Stuart Novice's or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 28 It should be tarred and wormed with stout spunyarn.
1874 F. G. D. Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. x. 313 Three men can worm, parcel, and serve 2 fathoms of 12-inch in an hour.
b. transferred. 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > distribution system > supply power to system [verb (transitive)] > wind strips between cores
worm1909
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > distribution system > supply power to system [verb (transitive)] > form multicore cable
worm1982
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. 16b). Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > fire (a gun) [verb (transitive)] > load or prime (a gun) > unload, etc.
unload1601
uncharge1688
worm1802
unshot1805
1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. (at cited word) To worm a Gun, to take out the charge of a fire-arm by means of a worm.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (ed. 8) 209 No. 4. Worms, spunges, rams home, runs out, and trains.
1873 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 79/1 The guns were ‘wormed’, ‘sponged’, loaded, and run out.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
> as lemmas
WORM
WORM n. /wɜːm/ Computing write once read mostly (or many times): used (chiefly attributive) to designate optical memory or an optical storage device on to which data may be written once only by laser, and which is thereafter used as ROM.
/wɜːm/ Computing write once read mostly (or many times): used (chiefly attributive) to designate optical memory or an optical storage device on to which data may be written once only by laser, and which is thereafter used as ROM.ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > hardware > secondary storage > [adjective] > optical memory
WORM1985
society > computing and information technology > hardware > secondary storage > [noun] > optical disc > write once
WORM1985
1985 Electronics 24 June 85/1 The model 5984 optical disk drive offers 400 megabytes of write-once-read-mostly (WORM) data-storage space on a 5¼ in. disk.
1985 Pract. Computing Oct. 110/1 The Worm (write-once read-many) drive has been around since 1978, when Philips demonstrated a 12 in. optical data disc based on its video-disc technology.
1986 Guardian 5 June 13/4 CD–ROM is essentially a publishing medium, but ‘write once/read many’ (times) or WORM discs enable people to save their own data.
1987 Financial Times 6 Jan. i. 20/5 With WORM, personal computer users can write (or scan) new documents onto a disc.
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n.c825
v.1564as lemmas
- greater multangular
- greater nobility
- greater omentum
- greater padloper
- greater perfect system
- greater periwinkle
- greater pettichaps
- greater plantain
- greater plover
- greater prairie chicken
- greater redpoll
- greater reed-sparrow
- greater reedmace
- greater reedsparrow
- greater rhea
- greater roadrunner
- greater sapphic
- greater spotted cuckoo
- greater spotted dogfish
- greater spotted woodpecker
- greater spurrey
- greater stitchwort
- greater than exception
- greater than ordinary
- greater than the sum of its parts