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 When watching the finished film, Howe realized their early life experiences wormed their way into the screenplay, too. — Angelique Jackson, Variety, 21 Oct. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wormed
Verb
  • The buzzer sounded and Banchero encroached on Johnson’s space before Dyson Daniels and Onyeka Okongwu tried to break them apart.
    — Lauren Williams, AJC.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Verb
  • The police force has been heavily infiltrated by the far-right National Rally party.
    — Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Both cases describe much of the same operation, including Cuban intelligence agents who infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue in Miami, gathered information about its aircraft and flight plans and relayed intelligence to authorities in Havana.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • By spring, with the opportunity fading for a mass relocation of homes and businesses, optimism crept back into public discourse.
    — Abe Streep, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Verb
  • Rabinowitch’s team inserted mouse synapse proteins into the worms, which created artificial connections that didn’t interfere with worms’ existing synapses.
    — Simon Makin, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2026
  • The Inlexzo device goes in a small tube that's inserted through the urethra.
    — Stephanie Stahl, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Giamanco crawled in through a shot-out window, reached the special education classroom and reracked his firearm in preparation for a deadly confrontation.
    — David K. Li, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Verb
  • Authorities said Morley, 28, slipped through a fence in his prison clothes late Sunday night before walking to the nearby farm and stealing the truck.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The stock has slipped 13% in 2026 to date, at about $64 in mid-day trading Wednesday.
    — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • On a recent Tuesday in October, about 50 people were in a line that snaked around the lobby of the Public Theater in Manhattan.
    — Mariah Kreutter, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Long lines of vehicles snaked outside gas stations across Indonesia’s resort island of Bali this week after fuel deliveries were disrupted by a combination of technical problems, bad weather and surging demand, officials said Wednesday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Then, as if by magic, he was spotted at a nearby table, having snuck in through the back.
    — Kyle Eustice, VIBE.com, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Machado snuck out of Venezuela in late 2025 to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, after spending nearly a year in hiding.
    — Olivia Gazis, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Wormed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wormed. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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