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 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
  • The ads have now encroached into social media without proper disclosures with many online pharmacies not following the same rules that many pharmaceutical companies follow, a senior White House official said.
    Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025
  • From the deadly 2025 Los Angeles fires to the devastating 2019-2020 Australian bushfires and the 2018 wildfire in Athens, Greece, flames have increasingly encroached upon human settlements, claiming lives and livelihoods.
    Seyd Teymoor Seydi, The Conversation, 21 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • While a wallpaper photographed by Calle was turned into a key black-and-white print in the collection, with small bellflowers blossoming on shirts and pants, a flavor for Orientalism infiltrated Rizza’s designs, inspired by some of Calle’s snapshots.
    Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
  • Doctors on the ground estimate that tuberculosis has infiltrated almost every second home of this eastern urban compound, killing residents and robbing many families of their livelihoods.
    CNN Money, CNN Money, 21 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Each year, the mining site crept farther south as deposits dwindled, lengthening her father’s commute.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The restaurant also suffered equipment loss as the flooding crept into its basement.
    Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • This time, of the five live roaches, the least shy sashayed across the floor in front of the cookline and crawled under a dining area table.
    David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 11 Oct. 2025
  • Bamboo Penny’s 5270 W 116th Place, Leawood A live cockroach crawled on the wall next to the rice cooker at this Leawood Thai restaurant.
    Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber snuck in just before the screening, as did Running Man filmmaker and frequent BFI-dweller Edgar Wright.
    Zac Ntim, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Investigators believe that Zemfira met the other girl on social media, and the two snuck out of their homes that Friday night for an adventure.
    Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Tree roots and ivy creepers have also snaked through the stonework.
    Barry Neild, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2025
  • The line snaked at least a half mile through Westgate and across north 95th Avenue to the west and north 93rd Avenue to the east.
    Rey Covarrubias Jr, AZCentral.com, 21 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The researchers inserted genes for a lactate-polymerizing enzyme (LPE) into the bacteria.
    Tejasri Gururaj, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2025
  • And while the game was already out of hand when Wilcke was inserted into the lineup, the redshirt junior handled South Florida’s blitz (70% of his dropbacks) and pushed the ball down the field with ease — something that the 49ers have struggled with all season.
    Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 7 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • QuikTrip dropped 1% to 80 points while Buc-ee’s slid 1%, tying Love’s in fifth place with 79 points.
    Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Penn State abruptly fired James Franklin on Sunday after the Nittany Lions slid from a 3-0 start into a three-game losing streak that included an unexpected 22–21 home loss to Northwestern, leaving the program 3-3 and winless in Big Ten play.
    Rowan Fisher-Shotton, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Wormed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wormed. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.

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