vermin
/ˈvəːmɪn
/noun [treated as plural]
1Wild animals which are believed to be harmful to crops, farm animals, or game, or which carry disease, e.g. rodents: killed as vermin or game, the pumas have gone...
- Spilt feed, litter and standing water attract wild birds and vermin.
- Who was to say that Old Macdonald only had domestic farm animals and traditional vermin?
- Surely, the presence of these disease carrying vermin is totally unacceptable and it is high time the authorities do something about them!
1.1Parasitic worms or insects: his clothes are infested with vermin...
- Unfortunately, it is periodically infested with bugs and vermin, which can harass citizens, contaminate buildings, etc.
- Some patients did not bathe, others were infested with vermin, and modesty was an issue, especially with female patients.
- The area was filthy and vermin infested, the report stated.
1.2People perceived as despicable and as causing problems for the rest of society: the vermin who ransacked her house...
- You can hobble your way right down to Guantanamo Bay with the rest of the vermin.
- She would probably be laughing about it with the rest of her vermin companions tonight.
- In this Bharat, the uncivilised savages claim the mantle of culture and the traitorous vermin parade as sentinels of nationalism.
Derivatives
verminous
/ adjective ...- I lived in some verminous dives in my youth, but spent a few glorious years in a Dinkytown flat and Uptown.
- His cell became verminous, so did his hair and body.
- At night, I toss and turn, and watch my trusty verminous companions scurrying to and fro.
Origin
Middle English (originally denoting animals such as reptiles and snakes): from Old French, based on Latin vermis 'worm'.