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worm
- Main Entry:
- 1worm
- Pronunciation:
-
\ˈwərm\
- Function:
- noun
- Usage:
- often attributive
- Etymology:
- Middle English, from Old English wyrm serpent, worm; akin to Old High German wurm serpent, worm, Latin vermis worm
- Date:
- before 12th century
1 a: earthworm; broadly : an annelid worm b: any of numerous relatively small elongated usually naked and soft-bodied animals (as a grub, pinworm, tapeworm, shipworm, or slowworm)2 a: a human being who is an object of contempt, loathing, or pity : wretch b: something that torments or devours from within3archaic : snake, serpent4: helminthiasis —usually used in plural5: something (as a mechanical device) spiral or vermiculate in form or appearance: as a: the thread of a screw b: a short revolving screw whose threads gear with the teeth of a worm wheel or a rack c: archimedes' screw; also : a conveyor working on the principle of such a screw 6: a usually small self-contained and self-replicating computer program that invades computers on a network and usually performs a destructive action
— worm·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective
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