wormed

past tense of worm
1
as in encroached
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits neighborhoods worming into lands reserved for wildlife

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2
as in infiltrated
to introduce in a gradual, secret, or clever way over a period of several years, the undercover agent was able to worm his way into the drug kingpin's confidence

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3
as in crept
to move slowly with the body close to the ground the cat silently wormed along the ground as it snuck up on the bird

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wormed Over the next several decades, and countless strangulations, Homer and Bart wormed their way into our hearts. — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2026 The idea wormed its way through the State Fair machinery, and with a month and a half to go until gates opened, EatFuti heard they’d be allowed to test a pilot program. — Courtney Crowder, Des Moines Register, 14 Aug. 2026 Gemini has wormed its way into virtually every Google product and service, powering email organization in Gmail, document summary in Drive, and much more. — ArsTechnica, 11 Aug. 2026 Like parasites, those jukebox musicals wormed their way into Broadway and slowly killed the medium. — Jesse Eisenberg, New Yorker, 20 July 2026 OpenAI’s ChatGPT has wormed its way into more and more parts of consumers’ lives, from work to their children’s education, and even mental health and romantic relationships. — Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 16 May 2026 We as a community contain (often brain-wormed) multitudes, as evidenced by this year’s plethora gay Halloween costumes. — Abby Monteil, Them., 31 Oct. 2025 After a scramble from Baltimore’s corner kick, Kerr’s header at the back post wormed through a thicket of defenders, and Cuthbert had the final touch. — Cerys Jones, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025 This story has wormed its way into all levels of British cultural output. — Will Collins, The Washington Examiner, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wormed
Verb
  • However, the brand’s initial dominance has gradually waned, according to insiders, as competing brands have encroached on Fenty Beauty’s market share.
    — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Wildfires encroached on major European cities, a once unthinkable threat.
    — Justin Worland, Time, 3 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Its early productions infiltrated participants’ lives through phone calls, texts and emails.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Last year, detectives infiltrated a private WhatsApp group used to advertise and sell large quantities of drugs, police said.
    — Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 5 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Europe has crept back on the scene in a real negative way, this time with France on the hot seat.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The aberrant digit only crept in because Ford owned the rights to Model E and wasn’t interested in selling.
    — Jason Barlow, Robb Report, 11 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • As is typical with Porsches, there are five circular gauges on the dash, and the key is inserted on the left.
    — Caleb Jacobs, The Drive, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Uncover and continue baking for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is puffed and appears dry, and a toothpick inserted into the brownie portion near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • In May 2025, after Williams shut off the water in a cell, 10 inmates removed a toilet, crawled through a gap in the wall and scaled a fence out of the jail.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In real-world tests, the hand crawled across 14 different surfaces including smooth floors, metal grates, grass, and gravel.
    — Edd Gent, IEEE Spectrum, 8 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Amanda Peet did all of that too, starting in her late 30s because of dense breast tissue and prior benign lumps, and her stage 1 invasive lobular carcinoma still slipped past her first scan.
    — Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 14 Oct. 2026
  • These were aspirationally scheduled for no earlier than mid and late October, respectively, but have now apparently slipped to mid-to-late November (though there has been no public confirmation of any firm target date).
    — Andrew Jones, Space.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • At Yohji Yamamoto, a long strand of eyelashes cascaded down from a model’s lower eyelid and snaked against her face.
    — Jennifer Weil, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Demands for the exclusive event pins exceeded common sense and ventured into the absurd with haphazard lines that snaked through the convention center.
    — Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • It was announced on Saturday that Judkins and QB Deshaun Watson had been fined a cool $14,397, while guard Austin Barber, who also snuck a hit off of the invisible blunt, had to pony up $6,944.
    — Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Kraft also took a direct snap and sneaked for a first down on another fourth-and-1 at the Buccaneers 10.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Wormed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wormed. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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