worm

Meaning

Noun

1. A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.
2. More loosely, any of various tubular invertebrates resembling annelids but not closely related to them, such as velvet worms, acorn worms, flatworms, or roundworms.
3. A type of wingless "dragon", especially a gigantic sea serpent or any kind of dragon.
4. Either a mythical "dragon" (especially wingless), a gigantic sea serpent, or a creature that resembles a Mongolian death worm.
5. A contemptible or devious being.
6. A self-replicating malware that propagates through a network.
7. A graphical representation of the total runs scored across a number of overs.
8. Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
9. Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
10. Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
11. Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
12. Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
13. Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
14. (obsolete) Any creeping or crawling animal, such as a snake, snail, or caterpillar.
15. An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one’s mind with remorse.
16. A strip of linked tiles sharing parallel edges in a tiling.
17. The lytta.
18. A dance, or dance move, in which the dancer lies on the floor and undulates the body horizontally thereby moving forwards.

Verb

1. To make (one's way) with a crawling motion.
2. To move with one's body dragging the ground.
3. To work one's way by artful or devious means.
4. To work (one's way or oneself) (into) gradually or slowly; to insinuate.
5. To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means.
6. To drag out of, to get information that someone is reluctant or unwilling to give (through artful or devious means or by pleading or asking repeatedly).
7. To fill in the contlines of (a rope) before parcelling and serving.
8. To deworm (an animal).
9. To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of (a dog, etc.) for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw, and formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.
10. To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm.

Synonyms

earthworm

maggot

insect

caterpillar

🐛

creep

snake

🐍

larva

bug

🐛

wrestle

wriggle

louse

squirm

crawl

twist

grub

helminth

leech

spiral

writhe

dirt ball

hookworm

rain-worm

elicit

intestinal worm

slither

beetle

🪲

proliferate

pull

renege on

reprint

retrieve

roundworm

screw

serpent

slip into

sneak

spin

stinker

supersede

take back

tapeworm

threadworm

vermin

volute

vortex

weevil

wiggler

wind

withdraw

worm gear

wreathe

deworm

earth worm

sprog

vermis

apple-grub

Vermes

kind of insect

de-worm

vermi

vermi-

computer worm

circumvolute

worm screw

endless screw

spiral pinion

ascarides

squeeze money out

bacteria

riceworm

bolt

bootlick

burrow

cancel

chrysalis

corkscrew

curl

curve

dawdle

dragon

🐉

draw back

earthworms

enter into

extract

fidget

find out

germ

glean

grovel

larvae

lizard

🦎

needle

parasite

parasitic

pin

Pronounced as (IPA)

/wɜːm/

Etymology

From Middle English worm, werm, wurm, wirm, from Old English wyrm (“worm, snake”), from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis, possibly from *wer- (“to turn”). Doublet of vermin and wyrm, the latter of which is a fairly recent borrowing directly from the Old English.
(computing): First computer usage by John Brunner in his 1975 book The Shockwave Rider.
cognates
Germanic cognates include Dutch worm, West Frisian wjirm, German Wurm, Swedish orm (“snake”), Norwegian Nynorsk orm (“earthworm or snake”), Danish orm and Yiddish וואָרעם (vorem).
Indo-European cognates include Latin vermis (“worm”), Lithuanian var̃mas (“insect, midge”), Albanian rrime (“rainworm”), Ancient Greek ῥόμος (rhómos, “woodworm”).