worm : Idioms & Phrases

• noun worms with cylindrical bodies segmented both internally and externally
  annelid; annelid worm.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the larva of a small moth (Carpocapsa pomonella) which burrows in the interior of apples. See Codling moth.

Webster 1913

• noun noctuid moth larvae that travel in multitudes destroying especially grass and grain
  armyworm; Pseudaletia unipuncta.
  

WordNet

Ar"my worm`

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) (a) A lepidopterous insect, which in the larval state often travels in great multitudes from field to field, destroying grass, grain, and other crops. The common army worm of the northern United States is Leucania unipuncta. The name is often applied to other related species, as the cotton worm. (b) The larva of a small two-winged fly (Sciara), which marches in large companies, in regular order. See Cotton worm, under Cotton.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a lepidopterous insect of the genus Thyridopteryx and allied genera, esp. T. ephemeræformis. The larva makes and carries about a bag or basket-like case of silk and twigs, which it afterwards hangs up to shelter the pupa and wingless adult females.

Webster 1913

• noun slender animal with tentacles and a tubelike outer covering; lives on the deep ocean bottom
  pogonophoran.
  

WordNet

• a worm that breeds or lives in the belly (stomach or intestines). Johnson.

Webster 1913

• noun encysted saclike larva of the tapeworm
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the larva of any species of tapeworm (Tænia), found in the flesh or other parts of animals. See Measle, Cysticercus.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a phyllopod crustacean of the genus Artemia, inhabiting the strong brines of salt works and natural salt lakes. See Artemia.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the larva of several species of moths and butterfies, which attacks cabbages. The most common is usully the larva of a white butterfly. See Cabbage Butterfly, above. The cabbage cutworms, which eat off the stalks or young plants during the night, are the larvæ of several species of moths, of the genus Agrotis. See Cutworm.

Webster 1913

• noun a source of unpredictable trouble and complexity
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the larva of a small moth (Asopia costalis), often very destructive to clover hay.

Webster 1913

• (Zool.), a lepidopterous insect (Aletia argillacea), which in the larval state does great damage to the cotton plant by eating the leaves. It also feeds on corn, etc., and hence is often called corn worm, and Southern army worm.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), an insect larva which eats the leaves or fruit of the currant. The most injurious are the currant sawfly (Nematus ventricosus), introduced from Europe, and the spanworm (Eufitchia ribearia). The fruit worms are the larva of a fly (Epochra Canadensis), and a spanworm (Eupithecia).

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a larval tape worm, as the cysticercus and echinococcus.

Webster 1913

• noun terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil; often surfaces when the ground is cool or wet; used as bait by anglers
  earthworm; angleworm; dew worm; fishworm; wiggler; nightwalker; fishing worm; nightcrawler; crawler.
  

WordNet

• noun terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil; often surfaces when the ground is cool or wet; used as bait by anglers
  earthworm; angleworm; dew worm; fishworm; wiggler; nightwalker; fishing worm; nightcrawler; crawler.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), any insect larva of a flesh fly. See Flesh fly (above).

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), one of numerous species of insect larvæ: which live in the interior of fruit. They are mostly small species of Lepidoptera and Diptera.

Webster 1913

Gal"ley-worm` noun

Etymology

Prob. so called because the numerous legs along the sides move rhythmically like the oars of a galley.

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) A chilognath myriapod of the genus Iulus, and allied genera, having numerous short legs along the sides; a milliped or "thousand legs." See Chilognatha.

Webster 1913

• a glowworm. Obs.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the larva of a small moth (Dakruma convolutella). It destroys the gooseberry by eating the interior.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the larva of the grain moth. See grain moth, above.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the larva of the grape moth.

Webster 1913

Gru"gru worm"

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) The larva or grub of a large South American beetle (Calandra palmarum), which lives in the pith of palm trees and sugar cane. It is eaten by the natives, and esteemed a delicacy.

Webster 1913

• noun a painful and debilitating infestation contracted by drinking stagnant water contaminated with Guinea worm larvae that can mature inside a human's abdomen until the worm emerges through a painful blister in the person's skin
  dracunculiasis; Guinea worm.
  
• noun parasitic roundworm of India and Africa that lives in the abdomen or beneath the skin of humans and other vertebrates
  Dracunculus medinensis.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), a long and slender African nematoid worm (Filaria Medinensis) of a white color. It lives in the cellular tissue of man, beneath the skin, and produces painful sores.

Webster 1913

• noun a painful and debilitating infestation contracted by drinking stagnant water contaminated with Guinea worm larvae that can mature inside a human's abdomen until the worm emerges through a painful blister in the person's skin
  dracunculiasis; Guinea worm.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the hair worm or gordius.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), any species of helminth living in the intestinal canal of any animal. The species are numerous.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the larva of a geometrid moth (Drepanodes varus). It feeds upon the leaves of the juniper, and mimics the small twigs both in form and color, in a remarkable manner.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the larva of a beetle (Tenebrio molitor) which infests granaries, bakehouses, etc., and is very injurious to flour and meal.

Webster 1913

• noun small hairless caterpillar having legs on only its front and rear segments; mostly larvae of moths of the family Geometridae
  inchworm; looper.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the larva of any geometrid moth. See Geometrid.

Webster 1913

• noun unsegmented worms with elongated rounded body pointed at both ends; mostly free-living but some are parasitic
  roundworm; nematode.
  

WordNet

• noun hermaphroditic terrestrial and aquatic annelids having bristles borne singly along the length of the body
  oligochaete.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), a nematoid worm (Strongylus armatus), parasitic in the blood vessels of the horse, in which it produces aneurisms, often fatal.

Webster 1913

• . (Zoöl.) (a) The larva of a palm weevil . (b) A centipede.

Webster 1913

• noun worm that is parasitic on the intestines of vertebrates especially roundworms and tapeworms and flukes
  helminth.
  

WordNet

• noun small unsegmented marine worm that when disturbed retracts its anterior portion into the body giving the appearance of a peanut
  sipunculid.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the larva of an American moth (Heliothis phloxiphaga). It is destructive to phloxes.

Webster 1913

• noun chiefly marine annelids possessing both sexes and having paired appendages (parapodia) bearing bristles
  polychete; polychaete worm; polychaete.
  

WordNet

• noun chiefly marine annelids possessing both sexes and having paired appendages (parapodia) bearing bristles
  polychete; polychaete worm; polychaete.
  

WordNet

• noun large green white-striped hawkmoth larva that feeds on tomato and potato plants; similar to tobacco hornworm
  tomato hornworm; Manduca quinquemaculata.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the large green larva of a sphinx, or hawk moth (Macrosila quinquemaculata); called also tomato worm. See Illust. under Tomato.

Webster 1913

• noun soft unsegmented marine worms that have a threadlike proboscis and the ability to stretch and contract
  nemertean; proboscis worm; nemertine.
  

WordNet

• noun larvae bore into and feed on apples
  Rhagoletis pomonella; apple maggot.
  

WordNet

• noun terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil; often surfaces when the ground is cool or wet; used as bait by anglers
  earthworm; angleworm; dew worm; fishworm; wiggler; nightwalker; fishing worm; nightcrawler; crawler.
  

WordNet

• noun soft unsegmented marine worms that have a threadlike proboscis and the ability to stretch and contract
  nemertean; proboscis worm; nemertine.
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.) (a) A tapeworm . (b) A nemertean.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), an annelid.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the larva of an American fly (Compsomyia macellaria), allied to the blowflies, which sometimes deposits its eggs in the nostrils, or about wounds, in man and other animals, with fatal results.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the pinworm.

Webster 1913

• noun worms with cylindrical bodies segmented both internally and externally
  annelid; annelid worm.
  

WordNet

• noun any of various worms living parasitically in intestines of vertebrates having a retractile proboscis covered with many hooked spines
  acanthocephalan.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), a gephyrean.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the common roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) found in the human intestine, and rarely in the stomach.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the larva of any moth which feeds on the strawberry vine.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a small nematoid worm found in the water tanks of India, supposed by some to be the young of the Guinea worm.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), any worm of the order Acanthocephala; called also thornhead.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), any larval insect which burrows in timber.

Webster 1913

• to enter into gradually by arts and insinuations; as, to worm one's self into favor.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the larva of a large hawk moth (Sphinx, ∨ Phlegethontius, Carolina). It is dark green, with seven oblique white stripes bordered above with dark brown on each side of the body. It feeds upon the leaves of tobacco and tomato plants, and is often very injurious to the tobacco crop. See Illust. of Hawk moth.

Webster 1913

• noun large green white-striped hawkmoth larva that feeds on tobacco and related plants; similar to tomato hornworm
  Manduca sexta; tobacco hornworm.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the larva of a large hawk moth (Sphinx, ∨ Macrosila, quinquemaculata) which feeds upon the leaves of the tomato and potato plants, often doing considerable damage. Called also potato worm.

Webster 1913

• noun wormlike arthropod having two pairs of hooks at the sides of the mouth; parasitic in nasal sinuses of mammals
  pentastomid.
  

WordNet

• noun parasitic flatworms having external suckers for attaching to a host
  fluke; trematode.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the larva of a fly of the genus Leiodes, injurious to truffles.

Webster 1913

• noun any of numerous velvety-skinned wormlike carnivorous animals common in tropical forests having characteristics of both arthropods and annelid worms
  peripatus; onychophoran.
  

WordNet

• noun minute eelworm that feeds on organisms that cause fermentation in e.g. vinegar
  Turbatrix aceti; vinegar eel; Anguillula aceti.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), a larva that bores in wood; a wood borer.

Webster 1913

• (Med.), an abscess produced by the irritation resulting from the lodgment of a worm in some part of the body.

Webster 1913

• noun a family of worms
  

WordNet

• noun rail fence consisting of a zigzag of interlocking rails
  snake fence; snake-rail fence; Virginia fence.
  

WordNet

• . See under Fence.

Webster 1913

• noun poorly known family of small tropical shallow-water fishes related to gobies
  

WordNet

• noun gear consisting of a shaft with screw thread (the worm) that meshes with a toothed wheel (the worm wheel); changes the direction of the axis of rotary motion
  

WordNet

• . (Mach.) (a) A worm wheel. (b) Worm gearing.

Webster 1913

• gearing consisting of a worm and worm wheel working together.

Webster 1913

• noun a genus of worms
  

WordNet

• . (Bot.) (a) See Pinkroot, 2 (a) . (b) The white stonecrop (Sedum album) reputed to have qualities as a vermifuge. Dr. Prior.

Webster 1913

• noun a lizard of the genus Amphisbaena; harmless wormlike limbless lizard of warm or tropical regions having concealed eyes and ears and a short blunt tail
  

WordNet

• (Med.), an anthelmintic consisting of oil obtained from the seeds of Chenopodium anthelminticum.

Webster 1913

• (Med.), an anthelmintic powder.

Webster 1913

• noun any of several small slim salamanders of the Pacific coast of the United States
  slender salamander.
  

WordNet

• noun wormlike burrowing snake of warm regions having vestigial eyes
  blind snake.
  
• noun small reddish wormlike snake of eastern United States
  thunder snake; Carphophis amoenus.
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.) See Thunder snake (b), under Thunder.

Webster 1913

• (Med.), an anthelmintic tea or tisane.

Webster 1913

• (Med.), a tincture prepared from dried earthworms, oil of tartar, spirit of wine, etc. Obs.

Webster 1913

• noun gear with the thread of a worm
  

WordNet

• a cogwheel having teeth formed to fit into the spiral spaces of a screw called a worm, so that the wheel may be turned by, or may turn, the worm; called also worm gear, and sometimes tangent wheel. See Illust. of Worm gearing, above.

Webster 1913

• adjective satellite infested with or damaged (as if eaten) by worms
  vermiculate; wormy.
  

WordNet

Worm"-eat`en adjective

Definitions

1. Eaten, or eaten into, by a worm or by worms; as, worm-eaten timber.

   Concave as a covered goblet, or a worm-eaten nut. Shak.

2. Worn-out; old; worthless. R. Sir W. Raleigh. -- Worm"-eat`en*ness, n. R. Dr. John Smith.

Webster 1913

• adjective satellite resembling a worm; long and thin and cylindrical
  vermiform.
  

WordNet

Worm"-shaped` adjective

Definitions

1. Shaped like a worm; hick and almost cylindrical, but variously curved or bent; as, a worm-shaped root.

Webster 1913

Worm"-shell` noun

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) Any species of Vermetus.

Webster 1913