Forms: 1 wyrm, 3, 5–6 Sc. wirm(e, (3 wrim, 5 wyrme, 6 Sc. virme); 1–3 weorm, 3–5 werm, 4–5 werme; 1–4 wurm, (3 wurem, Orm. wurrm, 3, 5 wrm); 6 wourme, Sc. woirme, 6–7 woorme, 4–7 worme, 3– worm. [OE. wyrm (:—*wurmi-z) = OFris. wirm (WFris. wjirm, NFris. würm, EFris. wurm), OS. wurm serpent (MLG., LG. worm, MDu., Du. worm), OHG., MHG., G. wurm † serpent, worm; also (with a-stem) ON. ormr (for *wormr) serpent (Sw., Norw., Da. orm); the stem of Goth. waurms ὄφις is uncertain. Related to L. vermis worm, Gr. ῥόμος, ῥόμοξ wood-worm.
In this word, as in WORSE and WORT, the spelling wo is an early graphic substitution for wu (cf. ME. wolf, wolle, wonder, for OE. wulf, wull, wunder), and this again is a reversion from OE. wy (i.e., wū) to the unmutated vowel through the influence of the following r. More normal developments of OE. wyrm appear in the ME. (eastern and Sc.) wirm and (south-eastern) werm.]
I. 1. A serpent, snake, dragon. Now only arch.
Beowulf, 2287. Þa se wyrm onwoc.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Deut. xxxii. 24. Ic sende wildeora teð on hi mid wurmum & næddrum.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 321. He … Wente in to a wirme, and tolde eue a tale.
c. 1290. St. James, 179, in S. Eng. Leg., 39. A fuyr Drake þar-opon a-ȝein heom cominde huy seiȝe … Anon hadde þis luþere worm is pouwer al ilore.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5896. Þan tok aaron þis ilk yeird, And on þe flore he kest it don, And it become a worme felon.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 720. Sunwhyle wyth wormez he werrez, & with wolues als.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. XI. 66. Whi wolde God vr saueour suffre such a worm In such a wrong wyse þe wommon to bi-gyle?
c. 1475. Partenay, 5859. The serpent fiil don dede … Which worme was ny ryght ten hole feete of lenght.
1526. Tindale, Acts xxviii. 4. When the men off the countree sawe the worme hange on hys honde.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., V. ii. 243. Hast thou the pretty worme of Nylus there, That killes and paines not?
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 1068. O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give eare To that false Worm.
1727. Pope, To Mr. John Moore, iii. That ancient Worm, the Devil.
1778. W. Hutchinson, View Northumb., ii. 162. The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs.
1784. Cowper, Task, VI. 780. The mother sees, And smiles to see, her infant’s playful hand Stretch’d forth to dally with the crested worm.
1867. Morris, Jason, X. 258. Therewith began A fearful battle betwixt worm and man.
† 2. Any animal that creeps or crawls; a reptile; an insect. Obs. In ME. often wild worm.
Cf. blind-worm, slow-worm (a lizard); also galleyworm, glow-worm.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. vii. Froxas comon … swa fela þæt man ne mihte … nanne mete ʓeʓyrwan, þæt þara wyrma nære emfela þæm mete, ær he ʓeʓearwod wære.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Deut. iv. 18. Ne wyrce ʓe eow … nane anlicnyssa … ne fuʓeles, ne wyrmes [reptilium], ne fisces.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 51. Þer wunieð fower cunnes wurmes inne [viz. adders, toads, frogs and crabs].
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 206. Þe scorpiun is ones cunnes wurm.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2982. Ðis wirmes [frogs and toads] storuen in ðe stede.
c. 1325. Sir Orfeo, 252 (Sisam). Now seþ he noþing þat him likeþ, Bot wilde wormes bi him strikeþ.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIV. 112. Briddes and bestes … And wilde wormes in wodes.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pard. T., 27. If Cow or Calf or Sheepe or Oxe swelle That any worm hath ete or worm ystonge.
c. 1400[?]. Lydg., Æsop’s Fab., v. 117. Thus were these wormes [the frog and mouse] contrary of livyng.
1535. Coverdale, Exod. viii. 21. I wil cause cruell wormes (or flyes) to come vpon the.
1561. Hollybush, Hom. Apoth., 37. Cantarides … are grene wormes shewing with a glosse lyke golde.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, II. xxxvii. 196. This herbe dryueth away … the stinking wormes or Mothes called Cimici.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., II. viii. 41 b. Certaine small flying wormes, which with their billes and stinges picking the other figs, sodaynely after they are picked, they come to a good and perfect ripenesse.
1587. Turberv., Trag. Tales, ix. 128 b. Vnderneath this bed of Sage, The fellow that did dig, Turnd vp a toade, a loathsome sight, A worme exceeding big.
1667. Milton, P. L., VII. 476. At once came forth whatever creeps the ground, Insect or Worme.
1805. Wordsw., Prelude, XIV. 274. The meek worm that feeds her lonely lamp Couched in the dewy grass.
1820. Shelley, Prometheus Unb., IV. 545. Ye beasts and birds, Ye worms, and fish.
† b. Applied (like vermin) to four-footed animals considered as noxious or objectionable. Obs.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 1573. Lions & Libardes & other laithe wormes.
1481. Caxton, Reynard, xxxiv. (Arb.), 100. Alas me growleth of thyse fowle nyckers [sc. young marmosets] … I sawe neuer fowler wormes.
3. A member of the genus Lumbricus; a slender, creeping, naked, limbless animal, usually brown or reddish, with a soft body divided into a series of segments; an earthworm. More widely, any annelid, terrestrial, aquatic, or marine.
Also with defining term, as dew, earth, ground, lug, mud, pipe, rag, rain, sand, sea, tag, tube, water: see the words.
a. 1100. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 320/31. Uermis, wyrm.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. cxv. (1495), hh i b/1. Some ben water wormes and some ben londe wormes.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 44. Maddockis, þat ben wormes of þe erþe.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 530/1. Wyrme, vermis.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 234 b. Lyke as the worme yt is crusshed or poysoned, may scantly crepe or lyfte vp her heed.
1530. Palsgr., 290/2. Worme in the erthe, uers de terre.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., 149. A marrishe is to be preferred before a dry ground, that they [viz. swine] may … digge vp woormes.
1608. Shaks., Per., IV. i. 79. I neuer … trode vpon a worme against my will, but I wept fort.
1731. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 269. The slimy tribe of Snails and Worms.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VII. 144. We now are in doubt whether he means a real worm, or a young animal of the lizard species.
1840. J. H. Newman, Paroch. Serm., V. viii. 128. Like worms working their way upwards through the dust of the earth.
1855. Kingsley, Glaucus (1878), 166. Pectinaria Belgica … is an Annelid, or true worm.
1855. Gosse, Marine Zool., I. 84. The Sea-mouse (Aphrodita) one of the most common as well as the largest of our Worms.
1881. Darwin, Form. Veget. Mould, i. 13. Worms are nocturnal in their habits.
b. Prov. Tread on a worm and it will turn: i.e., even the humblest will resent extreme ill-treatment. Also in variant or abbreviated forms, e.g., Even a worm will turn.
Cf. F. un ver se recoquille bien quand on marche dessus.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 52. Tread a woorme on the tayle and it must turne agayne.
a. 1548, 1641. [see TURN v. 66 d].
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., II. ii. 17. The smallest Worme will turne, being troden on.
1611, 1641. [see TURN v. 59 c].
1691. S. Shaw, Diff. Humours Men, 18. He has scarce the courage of a Worm, to turn at him that treads upon him.
1818. [see WOUND v. 3].
1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, xxv. 245. It exhausted the patience of the much-enduring Willis; so that the worm turned again—insolently.
1864. Browning, Mr. Sludge, 72. Tread on a worm, it turns, sir! If I turn, Your fault!
† c. Naked as a worm: entirely naked (= F. nu comme un ver), or in allusion to this. Obs.
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 454. Nakid as a worme was she. Ibid. (c. 1386), Clerk’s T., 824. Lat me nat lyk a worm go by the weye.
c. 1450. Cov. Myst., Fall of Man, 291. I walke as werm with-outyn wede.
a. 1467. [see NAKED a. 1 b].
† d. To look worms: ? to peer narrowly (through). Obs. (But perh. a corrupt reading.)
c. 1600. Timon, I. ii. I’le make the[e] looke wormes through the pryson grates, Vnlesse thou satisfie to me my debt.
4. Any endoparasitic helminth breeding in the living body of men and other animals. Usu. pl. (formerly often with the). Also, the disease or disorder constituted by the presence of these parasites.
The numerous kinds are indicated by a defining term, as flat, gourd, Guinea, hair, maw, palisade, pin, round, tape, thread: see these words.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 120. Wiþ þam wyrmum þe innan eʓlað þam men.
c. 1290. Beket, 2213, in S. Eng. Leg., 170. Ful of wormes was is flesch.
1382. Wyclif, Acts xii. 23. And he waastid of wormes, deiede.
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 466. Als lang as he liffid after, wormes & mawkis bred in his flessh & eate it away.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, c vij b. A medecyne for wormys called anguellis.
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 103. The wormes is a lyght dysease, and they lye in the greatte paunche, in the belye of the horse, and they are shynynge, of colour lyke a snake, syxe inches in lengthe.
a. 1530. J. Heywood, Play of Love, 676 (Brandl). Wherby loue is a drynk mete To gyue babes for wormes, for it drynketh bytter swete.
1630. Randolph, Aristippus, 25. The King of Russia had died of the wormes, but for a powder I sent him.
1652. W. Poole, Country Farrier, 33. To cure the Wormes, or Bottes that doe wring his belly.
1665. Golden Coast, Guinney, 10. There is a kinde of long Worm, that ariseth in the Legs, Arms, and Thighs of some men that come hither.
1705. trans. Bosman’s Guinea, xiii. (1721), 94. The National Diseases here are the Small-Pox and Worms.
1732. Arbuthnot, Rules of Diet (1736), 413. Children subject to Worms ought not to live much upon Milk, Cheese, or ripe Fruits.
1822. Good, Study Med. (1829), I. 365. In an attack upon worms, brisk cathartics should always take the lead.
1826. J. Evans, Brit. Herbal, 57. Germander, the juice of the leaves dropped in the ears killeth the worms in them.
1898. P. Manson, Trop. Diseases, xxxvi. 534. A dose of santonin often produces results which will seem to justify a diagnosis of ‘worms.’
5. The larva of an insect; a maggot, grub or caterpillar, esp. one that feeds on and destroys flesh, fruit, leaves, cereals, textile fabrics, and the like. Also collect. the worm, as a destructive pest.
With defining term prefixed, as book, caddis, canker, case, † cawel, horn, measuring, palmer, red, rook, silk, slug, span, tobacco, whirl, white, wire: see these words.
a. 1000. Riddles, xlviii. 3. Me þæt þuhte wrætlicu wyrd … þæt se wyrm forswealʓ wera ʓied sumes.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 138. Wiðuten salt fleshs gedereð wurmes … & forroteð sone.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10045. Þo grene corn in somer ssolde curne, To foule wormes muchedel þe eres gonne turne.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6612. Þai fand bot wormes creuland emid [i.e., in the manna].
1398. Trevisa, Earth. De P. R., XVII. cxiv. (Tollemache MS.). In somer þe tender leues þerof beþ eten with smal schagges, and with oþer wormes.
1415. Hoccleve, To Sir John Oldcastle, 466. The worm for to sleen in the pesecod.
c. 1440. Palladius on Husb., IV. 965. Now pike out moughthes, attercoppes, wormes, And butterflie whos thost engendring worm is.
1450–1530. Myrr. our Ladye, p. xxv. The Chambres schal haue al the clothes in her warde,… makyng, repayryng, and kepyng them from wormes.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, IV. lx. 522. The small wormes that are found within the knoppes or heades of Teaselles.
1601. Shaks., Twel. N., II. iv. 114. She … let concealment like a worme i’th budde Feede on her damaske cheeke.
1608. Topsell, Serpents, 78. The small Wormes of the Drones.
c. 1630. Milton, Arcades, 53. Or what the cross dire-looking Planet smites, Or hurtfull Worm with canker’d venom bites.
1654. R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 230. Books are subject among other Chances to fire, and the Worme.
1677. Rector’s Bk., Clayworth (1910), 35. I … observed worms in wheat and Rye.
1718. Prior, Solomon, III. 132. The Worm that gnaws the ripening Fruit.
1797. in A. Young, Agric. Suffolk, 39. Wheat never plants kindly after a thin crop of clover; but is subject to the worm, and to be root fallen.
1807. Crabbe, Par. Reg., III. 239. The crawling worm, that turns a summer-fly.
1847. Emerson, Repr. Men Shakesp., Wks. (Bohn), I. 358. They have left … no file of old yellow accounts to decompose in damp and worms.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xli. The worms have eaten the cloth a good deal.
1857. Kingsley, Lett. (1877), II. 41. The office of worms in this world is to prevent, while they seem to accelerate, putrefaction.
1884. J. Phin, Dict. Apicult., 78. When worms are spoken of by the ordinary beekeeper, the larvæ of the bee-moth are almost always meant.
1886. Tobacco (ed. Lock), 55. Worms, in the American phraseology, here generally known as caterpillars, are the bête noire of the tobacco grower.
fig. 1557. R. Edgeworth, Serm., 305 b. Pride, which is the moght, the worme that eateth vp the riche men.
1860. Pusey, Min. Proph., 287. Nothing can man have so pleasing, green, and, in appearance, so lasting, which has not its own worm prepared by God, whereby, in the dawn, it may be smitten and die.
b. The larva or grub of many kinds of beetles, destructive to trees, timber, furniture, etc. (Cf. 9 and wood-worm (WOOD sb.1 10 b).)
a. 1100. Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, 121/35. Termes, uel teredo, wyrm þe borað treow.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Wife’s Prol., 376. Right as wormes shendeth a tree.
c. 1470. E. E. Misc. (Warton Club), 70. Iff wormys wex in a tre.
1531. Elyot, Gov., II. xiv. ¶ 1. As the wormes do brede moste gladly in softe wode and swete.
1567. Satir. Poems Reform., iv. 154. As the woirme that workis vnder cuire At lenth the tre consumis that is duire.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XVII. xxiv. I. 539. As touching the Worme, some trees are more subject unto it than others.
1657. R. Austen, Fruit Trees, I. (ed. 2), 72. Foure Diseases that sometimes happen to Fruit-trees. Mossinesse, Bark bound, Canker, and Wormes.
1733. W. Ellis, Chiltern & Vale Farm., 190. The Worm is very apt to get between the Bark of this Wood after it is fell’d.
1807. Crabbe, Par. Reg., III. 236. Worms ate the floors, the tap’stry fled the wall.
1925. C. J. Gahan, Furniture Beetles, 5. Furniture or … woodwork … destroyed by what is commonly known as the worm—little six-legged, white grubs which live inside the wood, devouring it and turning it to powder.
c. contextually. A silkworm.
a. 900. Leiden Riddle, 9. Uyrmas mec ni auefun uyndicræftum.
1559. W. Cunningham, Cosmogr. Glasse, 196. In this country breed the Wormes which make silk.
1599. T. M[oufet], Silkwormes, 53. I thinke that God and nature thought it meete, The noblest wormes on noblest tree to feede.
1604. Shaks., Oth., III. iv. 73. The Wormes were hallowed, that did breede the Silke.
1626. Middleton, Anything for Quiet Life, II. ii. An especial good piece of Silk; the Worm never spun a finer thread.
1634. Milton, Comus, 715. Spinning Worms, That in their green shops weave the smooth-hair’d silk.
1707. Mortimer, Husb., 220. It is good to let the [Mulberry] Leaves be clear of Dew or Rain before you give them unto the Worms.
1887. Encycl. Brit., XXII. 59/1. As these moulting periods approach, the worms lose their appetite and cease eating.
6. A maggot, or, in popular belief, an earthworm, supposed to eat dead bodies in the grave.
a. 900. Juliana, 416. Þæs lichoman seþe on leʓre sceal weorðan in worulde wyrme to hroþor.
a. 1000. Soul & Body, 114. Rib reafiað reðe wyrmas.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 15. We beoð wiðuten al swa ðe deade mannes þruh, þe is wiðuten ihwited, and wiðinne stinkende and full of wermes.
c. 1250. Death, 157, in O. E. Misc., 178. Nu þe sculen wormes [Jesus MS. wurmes] wunien wiðinne.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 14321. Wormes biginnes at ete him nu.
a. 1400. Minor P. Vernon MS., 661/114. Wormes blake wol vs enbrase.
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 37 b. Thou shalt haue no power to fele the stenche of thy body, nor howe the wormes shall suke thy roten kareyn.
1542. Test. Ebor. (Surtees), VI. 164. My soull to God my maker, and my bodie to the wormes.
1560. Bible (Geneva), Job xix. 26. Thogh after my skin wormes destroy this bodie.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., IV. i. 108. Men haue died from time to time, and wormes haue eaten them.
1611. Bible, Job xxiv. 20. The worme shall feed sweetly on him.
a. 1679. J. Ward, Diary (1839), 274. Three months after, his bodie went to the wormes.
1795. M. G. Lewis, Monk (1796), III. 65 (Alonzo the Brave, xii).
| The worms they crept in, and the worms they crept out, | |
| And sported his eyes and his temples about. |
1815. Southey, Life & Corr. (1850), IV. 135. Some of our party told me of a third [grave], in which the worms were at work, but I shrunk from the sight.
1892. W. Watson, Great Misgiving, 4, in Lachrymæ Musarum, 52. Life is a feast, and we have banqueted—Shall not the worms as well?
punningly. (Cf. Shaks., Ham., IV. iii. 21–3.)
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulgar T., s.v., He is gone to the diet of worms, he is dead and buried, or gone to Rot-his-bone.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Mark ix. 48. Aworpen on helle fyr, þar hyra wyrm ne swylt.
c. 1275. Sinners Beware, 53, in O. E. Misc., 73. Þe wurmes … Þat doþ þe saule teone.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter i. 1. Þe saule thurgh assent gets þe worme þt neuer sall dye.
1547. Becon, Agst. Whoredom, iii. in Homilies, I. R iv b. The worme, that shall there gnawe the conscience of the dampned, shall neuer dye.
1654. R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 230. As to the other Fate of Books, it is to be feared these feed their Authors never dying Worme.
1667. Milton, P. L., VI. 739. Driven down To chains of Darkness, and th’ undying Worm.
c. Worm’s or worms’ meat, said of a man’s dead body, or of man as mortal. Also † worms’ food or ware; food or meat for (or † to) worms.
[a. 1000. Soul & Body, 127. Lic … bið þonne wyrmes ʓiefl.
a. 1023. Wulfstan, Hom., xxx. 145. We syndon deadlice menn and to duste sceolon on worulde wurðan wurmum to æte.]
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 276. Ne schalt tu beon wurmes fode?
c. 1230. Hali Meid. (1922), 59. Þat lam & wurmene mete.
1340. Ayenb., 216. Saint bernard zayþ huet is man bote uelþe … wermene mete [esca vermium]? Ibid. He is … mete to wermes ine his dyaþe.
c. 1400. Pety Job, 7, in 26 Pol. Poems, 121. I shalbe wormes ware.
1411–2. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 1087. It is to gret an abusioun, To seen a man, þat is but wormes mete, Desire riches.
1561. B. Googe, trans. Palingenius’ Zodiac, VI. Q j b. To day with myrthe alyue, and foode to wormes within a whyle.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., III. i. 112. They haue made wormes meat of me.
1637. Rutherford, Lett. (1671), 235. Fear not clay and worm’s meat.
1675. Cocker, Morals, 45. Poor Worms-meat, Soar not to the hight of State.
1677. Otway, Cheats of Scapin, II. By Heaven, he shall be Worms-meat within these two hours.
7. † a, A tick or mite breeding in the hand, foot, or other part of the body. Obs.
See also HANDWORM, nose-worm (NOSE sb. 18), wheal-worm (WHEAL sb.1 b), RING-WORM, DEW-WORM (etym. note).
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 124. Ʒif wyrm hand ete.
1523–34. Fitzherb., Husb., § 47. There be some shepe, that hath a worme in his foote, that maketh hym halte.
1530. Palsgr., 290/2. Worme in the hand, ciron.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph., I. (Arb.), 49. A litle blayne, a small cutte, yea a silie poore worme in his finger, may kepe him from shoting wel ynough.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., I. iv. 65. Her Waggoner, a small gray-coated Gnat, not halfe so bigge as a round little Worme, prickt from the Lazie-finger of a man [Qo. 1 maide].
1605. Erondelle, Fr. Gard., G 7 b. His knees are very round, he hath a worme at the right knee.
† b. fig. or allusively. Obs.
1577. Grange, Golden Aphrod., K iv b. To picke a worme between two forked fingers [i.e., to make horns: cf. Cotgrave s.v. Ciron].
1604. ? Dekker, Newes fr. Grauesend, Ep. Ded., in Plague Pamphlets (1925), 67. Strange fashions did I pick (like wormes) out of the fingers of euery Nation.
c. popularly = COMEDO.
1730. Swift, Lady’s Dressing Room, 64. A Glass that can to Sight disclose The smallest Worm in Cælia’s Nose, And faithfully direct her Nail, To squeeze it out from Head to Tail.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 752. It is also known as grub, worm, black-head, or ‘waster.’
8. An earthworm, or a larva (see 3, 5 above). a. as the food of birds.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 601. Ac wat etestu … Bute attercoppe and fule uliȝe, An wormes, ȝif þu miȝte finde Among þe uolde of harde rinde?
c. 1381. Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 326. The foules smale That eten as that nature wolde enclyne, As worme, or thynge of whiche I tel no tale. Ibid. (c. 1386), Sqr.’s T., 609. And to the wode he wole and wormes ete.
c. 1480. Henryson, Cock & Jewel, 94. I had leuer haif scrapit heir with my naillis Amangis this mow, and luke my lyfis fude, As draf, or corne, small wormis or snaillis.
1605. Shaks., Macb., IV. ii. 32. How will you liue? Son. As Birds do Mother. Wife. What with Wormes, and Flyes?
1670. Ray, Prov., 84. The early bird catcheth the worm.
1815. Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., IX. I. 18. The old birds feed them with small worms, caterpillars and insects.
1836. [Hooton], Bilberry Thurland, III. 195. As brisk as a robin wi’ worms.
1864. Browning, Dram. Pers., Caliban, 51. The pie with the long tongue That pricks deep into oakwarts for a worm.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. vi. As the early bird catches the worm.
b. as bait for fish.
Also with defining term prefixed, as caddis, dew, dug, lob, lug, red, etc.: see these words.
c. 1320. Cast. Love, 1129. As fisch þat is wt hok inomen, Þat whon þe worm he swoleweþ alast, He is bi þe hok itiȝed fast.
1510. Stanbridge, Vocabula (W. de W.), D j. Lumbrex, a worme or an angle twache.
1566. Nottingham Rec., IV. 130. Diggyng dovne the comon dycke … for gettyng of wormes.
1604. Shaks., Ham., IV. iii. 28 (Qo. 2). A man may fish with the worme that hath eate of a King, and eate of the fish that hath fedde of that worme.
1622–34. Peacham, Compl. Gent., xx. (1906), 258. For your live baits they are wormes of all kinds, especially the red worme.
1657. T. Barker, Barker’s Delight (1659), 41. For the Barbell, I have taken great ones in Ware river with wormes, for I know no better bait than wormes.
1806. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Tristia, Elegy Donithorne, 6. Patient as men, upon the river’s side, Who for a dinner throw the worm or fly.
collect. sing. 1909. W. C. Platts, Light Lines, 82. There may be no particular skill required in catching a few trout with worm in coloured water.
9. A name for various long slender crustaceans and mollusks (e.g., Teredo navalis, the ship-worm) which destroy timber by boring. Also collect. the worm, as a destructive pest.
Formerly supposed to be a grub or larva: cf. 5 b and TEREDO. See also ship-worm (SHIP sb.1 9 b), † TREE-WORM.
1621. in Foster, Eng. Factories Ind. (1906), 314. She being a new shipp, onely spoyled with the worme.
1691. T. H[ale], Acc. New Invent., 3. Securing the Hulls of his Majesties Ships against the Worm.
1774. E. Long, Jamaica, III. 740. This tree … having been found to stand the sea-water very well, uncorroded by … the worm, which is not able to penetrate it.
1864. Browning, James Lee’s Wife, II. iii. Some ships, safe in port indeed, Rot and rust, Run to dust, All through worms i’ the wood.
II. 10. fig. A human being likened to a worm or reptile as an object of contempt, scorn or pity; an abject, miserable creature.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter, xxi. 7. Ic soðlice eam wyrm [vermis] & nales mon.
c. 1200. Ormin, 4870. Icc amm an wurrm, & nohht nan mann.
1340. Ayenb., 215. Ich am, he zede, a lite werm, and no man.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), Pref. 1. In þat land he wald … suffer hard passioun and dede of þe Iews for vs synfull wormes.
1402. Friar Daw, in Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 45. Sith that wickide worme, Wiclyf be his name, began to sowe the seed of cisme in the erthe.
c. 1450. trans. De Imitatione, III. iv. 67. I am þi most poure seruaunt, and an abiecte worme.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, III. xiii. § 2. O Clinias,… the wickedest worme that euer went vpon two legges.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., V. v. 87. Pist. Vilde worme, thou wast orelook’d euen in thy birth.
1623. Massinger, Dk. Millaine, III. ii. G 4 b. If I am dull now, may I liue and dye The scorne of wormes & slaues.
a. 1662. Duppa, Rules & Helps Devot., I. (1675), 26. A Dignity that raiseth us poor Worms of the Earth to a kind of equality with the Angels themselves.
1732. Pope, Ess. Man, I. 258. All this dread Order break—for whom? for thee? Vile worm!
1859. Tennyson, Enid, 213. He, from his exceeding manfulness…, Wroth to be wroth at such a worm.
1864. Trollope, Small Ho. Allington, xxvii. Poor reptile; wretched worm of a man!
1882. Besant, All Sorts, vii. (1898), 67. The meanest amongst us poor worms of earth.
1926. [Elizabeth Von Arnim], Introduction to Sally, iv. 51. In the presence of her loveliness, what a mere mincing worm he was, with his precise ways of speech, and his twopenny-halfpenny little bit of superior education.
b. Similarly the son of a worm (after Job xvii. 14).
1633. Shirley, Gamester, II. (1637), D 1. He that affronts Me, is the sonne of a Worme, and his father a Whoore.
1872. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 3. Man, who is a worm, and the son of a worm.
† c. With qualification expressing tenderness, playfulness or commiseration: A human being, ‘creature.’ Obs. (In 16th c. esp. loving worm.)
Cf. G. das arme wurm, applied to a child.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., III. ii. (Arb.), 41. Yea and he is as louing a worme againe as a doue.
1561. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, II. R ij. Thus bicause they woulde bee counted to louynge woormes, they make menne counte them lyars, and fonde flatterers.
1568. Fulwell, Like will to Like, A ij b. Yet are women kinde wormes I dare wel say.
1593. G. Harvey, Pierces Super., Wks. (Grosart), II. 247. Apuleius Asse was … a cunning Ape, a loouing worme.
1610. Shaks., Temp., III. i. 31. Poore worme thou art infected.
a. 1625. Fletcher, M. Thomas, I. i. Val. How does his father? Hyl. As mad a worm as e’er he was.
1626. B. Jonson, Staple of Newes, V. iii. There hee sits like an old worme of the peace.
† d. Used, like CATERPILLAR 2, for: One who preys on society. Obs.
1591. Greene, Notable Disc. Coosnage, Wks. (Grosart), X. 30. The seruing-man sent with his Lordes treasure, loseth ofttimes most part to these worms of the commonwelth.
1633. Costlie Whore, V. i. in Bullen, O. Pl., IV. 296. Lords, see these wormes of kingdomes be destroyed. [Cf. 295 ante the catterpillers of the state.]
e. slang. A policeman.
1865. Slang Dict., 272. Worm, the latest Slang term for a policeman.
11. fig. A grief or passion that preys stealthily on a man’s heart or torments his conscience (like a worm in a dead body or a maggot in food); esp. the gnawing pain of remorse. Cf. CANKERWORM 2.
Sometimes ‘the worm that never dies’ (as in 6 b).
a. 900. Andreas, 769. Brandhata nið weoll on ʓewitte, weorm blædum faʓ.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Doctor’s T., 280. The worm of conscience.
1560. Nice Wanton, 281 (Manly). The worme of my conscience, that shall neuer dye, Accuseth me dayly more and more.
1578. H. Wotton, Courtlie Controv., 143. Euery man read easily in his face … that some secret worme gnawed vpon his accustomed ioy.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. iii. 222. The Worme of Conscience still begnaw thy Soule.
1623–4. Middleton & Rowley, Changeling, III. iv. ’Twil hardly buy a capcase for ones conscience tho To keep it from the worm.
1727. Pope, To Mr. John Moore, vii. Their Conscience is a Worm within, That gnaws them Night and Day.
1753. Smollett, Ct. Fathom, xlv. While in this manner he secretly nursed the worm of grief that preyed upon his vitals.
1813. Byron, Br. Abydos, II. xxvii. And, oh! that pang where more than madness lies! The worm that will not sleep—and never dies.
1826. Hazlitt, Plain Speaker, x. Wks. 1903, VII. 106. We secretly persuade ourselves that there is no such thing as excellence. It is that which we hate above all things. It is the worm that gnaws us, that never dies.
a. 1865. J. Gibson, in T. Matthews, Biog. (1911), 56. Nor did I feel the worm of envy creeping round my heart whenever I saw in the studios of others a beautiful idea skilfully executed by any of my young rivals.
† b. A whim or ‘maggot’ in the brain; a perverse fancy or desire; a streak of madness or insanity. Often wild worn (cf. 2). Obs. (So G. wurm.)
a. 1500. Medwall, Nature, II. 307 (Brandl). The wylde worm ys com into hys hed, So that by reason only he ys led.
a. 1530. J. Heywood, Play of Love, 678 (Brandl). Our louer, in whose hed By a frantyke worm his opinion is bred.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. V., 44. Some private Scorpion in your heartes or some wild worme in your heades hath caused you to conspire my death and confusion. Ibid., 3 Rich. III., 42. The wilde worme of vengaunce wauerynge in his hed.
1606. Chapman, Gentl. Usher, V. iv. 50. But a father Would rather eate the brawne out of his armes Then glut the mad worme of his wilde desires With his deare issues entrailes.
1623. Massinger, Dk. Millaine, V. i. L 2. And if I now out-strip him not, and catch him,… hereafter I’le sweare there are wormes in my braines.
1653. Dorothy Osborne, Lett. (1888), 84. Lest you should think I have as many worms in my head as he.
1674. Rymer, Rapin’s Aristotle’s Poesie, 47. The Emperor Nero who had the Worm in his Head, and conceited himself a Wit.
1678. Ray, Prov. (ed. 2), 278. He has a worm in ’s brain.
1705. Hearne, Collect., 26 Nov. (O.H.S.), I. 100. He presently after laid it aside, by reason the worm (wth wch he is possessed) mov’d in his head another way.
† c. Greedy worm (cf. 13): avarice or greediness as an itching passion in the heart. Obs.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, III. 4251. Auarise, to al vertu contraire, The gredi werm, the serpent vnstaunchable.
1587. Holinshed, Chron., III. 137/1. Thus we see … what occasion the emperour and duke did take, to inrich themselves by the meanes of the king, whome they forced not to impoverish, so their owne greedie worme were serued.
1607. Beaum. & Fl., Woman-Hater, I. iii. He is of good wit, and sufficient understanding, when he is not troubled with this greedy worm.
12. The worm: formerly a popular name for various ailments supposed to be caused by the working of a ‘worm,’ or resulting in a worm-shaped tumor or growth. † a. Colic. Sc. Obs.
c. 1500. Roule’s Cursing, 57, in Maitland Fo. (1919), 163. The worme, the wareit vedumfa [= wedenonfa’].
a. 1633. Sir A. Johnston (Ld. Wariston), Diary (S.H.S.), I. 12. That Sunday … schoe took the worme at midnight, begoud to cast, and so contineued al Mononday. Ibid. (1654), II. 275. I heard after sermon of M. W. G. haiving the worme, and not being able to com to the kirk al the Saboth.
b. Toothache. Sc. ? Obs.
Cf. Shaks., Much Ado, III. ii. 27.
a. 1583. Montgomerie, Flyting, 301 (Tullibard. MS.). The choikis, the charbunkill, with þe wormis in thy cheikis.
1673. Wedderburn, Vocab., 20 (Jam.). Laborat dolore dentium, he hath the worm.
1881. W. Gregor, Folk-Lore N. E. Scot., x. 48. It was a common belief that toothache was caused by a worm at the root of the tooth, and toothache was often simply called ‘the worm.’
1890. J. Service, Thir Notandums, vii. 44. The auld man was girnin’ wi’ the worm.
† c. ? An abscess or swelling thought to resemble a worm in shape. Obs.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 336. If a Horse do labor in that kinde of impostume which they vulgarly call the Worm, either any where as well as in the nose, they do open the skin with a searing iron.
III. 13. A small vermiform ligament or tendon in a dog’s tongue, often cut out when the animal is young, as a supposed safeguard against rabies; = LYTTA.
Also † greedy or † hungry worm: see GREEDY 1 d, HUNGRY 4.
1530, 1585, 1627. [see GREEDY 1 d].
1538. Elyot, Dict., Lytta, a worme in a dogges tongue.
1589. Nashe, Pasquil’s Ret., Wks. (Grosart), I. 113. Full of play like a wanton whelpe whose worme was not taken out of his tongue.
1654. C. Wase, Gratius’ Cyneget., B 8 b. Where the tongue is with fast tendons bound, The fury (call’d a worme) is thence convey’d.
1737. [see HUNGRY 4].
1868. R. Owen, Anat. Vertebr., III. 197. The long cylindrical fibrous body … called ‘lytta,’ and in Dogs, where it attains its largest size, ‘the worm.’
fig. 1599. Broughton’s Lett., i. 6. Your worme from your youth hath been a proud conceit of your self, which, being nourished vnder your tongue so long, makes it now runne riot.
b. A tendon in a dog’s tail, often cut or pulled out when the tail is being docked.
1877. Stables, Pract. Kennel Guide, 141. There is no earthly occasion for pulling out the nerve, or ‘worm,’ as it is called.
14. Used to render L. anatomical terms. † a. The epididymis (see quot. and cf. WORBY a. 2). Obs.
1545. Raynalde, Byrth Mankynde, I. xi. (1552), 23. Thys parte of the sede cariars may be called the worme: in latyn, Corpus lumbricosum: for because that it hath many conuolutions as wormes lyinge togeather haue.
b. The median lobe of the cerebellum; the vermis or vermiform process.
1857. Dunglison, Med. Lex.
1899. Syd. Soc. Lex.
15. An artificial or natural object resembling an earthworm.
1702. Lond. Gaz., No. 3858/4. A small Picture of a Man in Armour, set in Gold in a Shagrin Case, 2 little Gold Worms on each side the Picture.
1894. K. Grahame, Pagan Papers, 129. The drippings made worms of wet in the thick dust of the road.
1907. Westm. Gaz., 1 Jan., 7/2. The ‘worm’ of the Somerset Light Infantry … is a black thread woven into the gold lace on the officers’ sleeves.
b. pl. The coiled pods of Astragalus hamosus.
1849. Gardeners’ Chron., 3 Feb., 96. Vegetable and Flower Seeds … Hedgehogs per paper 0s. 3d. … Snails 0s. 3d. … Worms 0s. 3d.
1902. L. H. Bailey, Cycl. Amer. Hort., 1990. Under the name of ‘Worms,’ ‘Snails’ and ‘Caterpillars,’ various odd fruits of leguminous plants are grown as curiosities…. Astragalus hamosus … is the one usually known as ‘Worms.’
16. Used as the name of various implements of spiral form. (Supposed to resemble the sinuous shape and movement of an earthworm.) † a. The screw of a screw-press. Obs.
1548. Elyot’s Dict., Cochlea,… the vice or wourme of a presse.
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus.
b. A double or single screw fixed on the end of a rod, used for withdrawing the charge or wad from a muzzle-loading gun.
1591. G. Clayton, Mart. Discipl., 17. Euery Souldiour to haue a sufficient Caliuer,… rammer, worme [etc.].
1594[?]. Barwick, Disc. Weapons, 6. His scrues and wormes to serue all for his skowring sticke.
1600–1. Churchw. Acc. E. Budleigh (Brushfield, 1894), 19. Pd … the makinge cleane of the musketts and for a worme and scowerer.
1703. La Hontan’s Voy. N. Amer., I. 132. My Men began … to unload their Pieces with Worms, in order to charge ’em afresh.
1708. Lond. Gaz., No. 4455/4. Fine Triangle Worms … experienc’d for drawing of Balls out of Pieces, with Scowerers and Washers to them, made either to screw upon the Rod with a Socket, or to pin on.
1774. Pennsylv. Gaz., 9 Feb. Suppl. 2/3. Best double worm, box handle, single worm, ash handle.
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 4. What is the use of the worm? To draw the gun after loading.
c. A sharp-pointed spiral tool, used for boring wood or soft stone; an auger or gimlet, or the screw of such a tool. local.
1594. Plat, Jewell-ho., II. 28. If there happen to bee any quarrie of soft stone betweene him and the marle: he must firste make his entrance thorough the stone with a piercing worme.
1812. [see SCREW sb.1 5].
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Worm, 6.
1886. Cheshire Gloss., Worm, a gimlet.
d. The thread or spiral ridge of a male screw.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., ii. 31. The Rules and manner of cutting Worms upon great Screws. The Threds of Screws when they are bigger than can be made in Screw-plates are called Wormes.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 321/2. The Screw-Pin (of a vice) is cut with a square strong Worm or Thred.
1726. Leoni, Alberti’s Archit., II. 12/2. If these Rings or this Worm be … cut in too near to the centre of the Skrew, the weight will then be moved by shorter Leavers.
1750. Blanckley, Nav. Expositor, 143. Screws for Hatches, are made with a very nice Worm, that works in a Nutt let into a Sort of Drum-head.
1773. W. Emerson, Princ. Mech. (ed. 3), 42. The endless or perpetual screw AB, having one worm, leaf, or tooth, which drives the teeth of the wheel CD.
1802. Trans. Soc. Arts, XX. 254. He … made the thread of the worm too fine.
1833. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 152. Fly-screws and others having several worms.
1884. G. Lacy Hillier, in Longman’s Mag., March, 488. The inner end of the spoke has a worm cut upon it and is screwed into a solid metal centre, or hub.
e. A spiral channel cut in a hollow cylinder to correspond to the ridge of a screw which turns in it; the spiral of a female or hollow screw.
1725. Bradley’s Fam. Dict., s.v. Reservatory, Each Pipe is three foot and a half long, and there are Bridles at each end of them, which are join’d and closed together by Screws and Worms.
1835. Brit. Cycl. Arts & Sci., II. 357/1. In the head is fixed a metal nut, containing a worm or hollow screw. The worm is adapted to receive the screw by which the pressure is produced.
1875. Fortnum, Maiolica, vi. 52. Some of these pieces have a stopper fitting into the neck by a screw, the worm of which is worked upon it by means of a piece of wood formed with projecting teeth, the interior of the neck being furnished with a corresponding worm.
1878. ‘H. Collingwood,’ Secr. Sandas, iii. In either end of each length was inserted a narrow band of metal thick enough to allow of a worm and screw, so that all the lengths of each cylinder could be screwed together perfectly water-tight.
f. The spiral of a corkscrew; also, the corkscrew as a whole. local.
1681. Grew, Musæum, III. § i. v. 303. A Steel Worme used for the drawing of Corks out of Bottles.
1702. Phil. Trans., XXIII. 1367. A close spiral revolution like the Worm of a Bottle Screw.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Worm,… The spiral of a cork-screw.
1887. Kentish Gloss., Worm, a corkscrew.
g. An endless or tangent screw the thread of which gears with the teeth of a toothed wheel (or similar device).
1729. Desaguliers, in Phil. Trans., XXXVI. 197. Where Goods are to be rais’d high,… then an endless Screw turn’d by an Handle at each End, leading an Axis in Peritrochio, or as it is commonly call’d, a Worm and Wheel applied to a Crane, with a Gibbet, is most useful.
1855. Lardner, Hand-bk. Nat. Phil., Hydrostatics, etc. § 145. This wheel revolves on an axis, upon which there is a worm or endless screw.
1863. Smiles, Industr. Biogr., xv. 293. The plan he adopted was to fix a worm-wheel on the side of the ladle, into which a worm was geared.
1904. Mecredy, Dict. Motoring, 129. Worms were formerly cut on a lathe, and the wheels in a gear-cutting machine in the usual way, the teeth being set diagonally to match the angle of the worm.
h. A long spiral or coiled tube connected with the head of a still, in which the vapor is condensed.
1641. French, Distill., i. (1651), 25. Put it into a Copper Still with a worme.
1682. Lond. Gaz., No. 1686/4. Six Backs, several Stills and Worms.
1757. A. Cooper, Distiller, I. (1760), 2. A subsequent Treatment of the fermented Liquor by the Alembick, or hot Still, with its proper Worm and Refrigeratory.
1885. ‘C. E. Craddock,’ Prophet Gt. Smoky Mts., xv. They … cut the tubs and still to pieces, destroyed the worm, demolished the furnace.
1887. Manch. Exhib. Catal., 239. Samples of Whisky. Model Still and Worm.
i. A spiral heating flue in a furnace or coiled steam pipe in a boiler.
1758. [R. Dossie], Elaboratory laid open, 9. Another great error in the building furnaces, particularly those for harts-horn pots, or sand-pots, is the carrying the fire round the object, to be heated, in a vermicular flew, or worm (as it is commonly called); by which means, the vessel intended to be heated is much longer before it attain a due degree of heat; as the principal force of the fire is exercised on that great mass of brickwork, which forms the worm, and is brought into equal contiguity with the vessel itself, in respect to the fire, with indeed a much greater surface exposed to it.
1766. Museum Rust., VI. 299. They [sc. two caldrons] may be set in the open fire, without any flew or worm round them, in an oven-like furnace.
1857. Miller, Elem. Chem., Org., 371. The steam is either admitted into the copper by a perforated pipe, or it is made to circulate within it through a closed coil or worm.
j. A spring or strip of metal of spiral shape.
1724. Lond. Gaz., No. 6318/2. A Steel Worm or Rowling Spring,… to be used in hanging of Coaches.
1840. Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., III. 172/2. The cutting instrument … performs its operations with wonderful precision, frequently cutting a large and continuous shaving of thirty or forty feet in length … which, curling up, forms a curious and perfect worm or screw.
IV. 17. attrib. and Comb. a. gen., as worm-kind, -tribe; objective, as worm-breeding adj.; instrumental, as worm-cankered, -consumed, -gnawed, -gnawn, -spun, -worn adjs.; dative, as worm-reserved, -ripe; parasynthetic, as worm-shaped adj.
1611. Florio, Vermifero, *worme-breeding.
1830. Tennyson, To J. M. K., 6. Thou art no sabbath-drawler of old saws, Distill’d from some *worm-canker’d homily.
1612. J. Davies (Heref.), Muses Sacrif., Wks. (Grosart), II. 65/1. The *Worme-consumèd Corse.
1793. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Epistle to the Pope, 76. The wise Parisians mock her *worm-gnaw’d shrine.
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. ii. II. Babylon, 491. Th’ old, rusty, mouldy. *worm-gnawn words of yore.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist., VIII. 166. Animals of the *worm kind … being entirely destitute of feet.
1611. Cotgr., Vermiformes, two *worme-resembling parts of the Cervelet.
1593. Nashe, Christ’s T., Wks. (Grosart), IV. 176. I am the vnworthiest of all *worme-reserued wretches.
1893. Q. [Quiller-Couch], Delect. Duchy, 117. A glance up at the *worm-riddled rafters.
1893. J. Strong, New Era, xi. 247. This morbid, *worm-ripe piety, once in favor, has pretty much passed out of fashion for the individual.
1767. Phil. Trans., LVII. 430. When it is extended, it is of a *worm-shaped figure.
1870. P. M. Duncan, Blanchard’s Transf. Insects, 384. The larvæ are worm-shaped.
1922. [Elizabeth Von Arnim], The Enchanted April, ix. 138. Mrs. Fisher had never cared for maccaroni, especially not this long, worm-shaped variety.
1593. Nashe, Christ’s T., Wks. (Grosart), IV. 214. Though we glister it neuer so in our *worme-spunne robes.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist., VIII. 5. This may serve to distinguish them [sc. caterpillars] from the *worm tribe.
1820. Praed, Eve of Battle, 119. Sleep, in Honour’s *worm-worn bed.
1828. Lytton, Pelham, lxiii. Worm-worn volumes.
b. In sense 8 b, as worm-bag, -bait, farm, -hook, † -poke, -tackle, -tin; worm-bobber, -catcher, -catching, -fisher, -fishing, -hunter, -hunting; † worm-embowelled adj.
1909. W. C. Platts, Light Lines, 83. The bereaved was scudding across the meadows, with his rod and his *worm-bag, to the river.
1842. Pulman, Rustic Sk., 48. On the Axe the only kind of *worm-bait used is the blackhead or bluehead.
1844. J. T. Hewlett, Parsons & Widows, i. 11. He is a mere *worm-bobber—cannot throw a fly or spin a minnow.
1880. F. Buckland, Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes, 11. A short gentleman, like you, sir,… would never make a *worm-catcher.
1881. Athenæum, 30 April, 594/2. Mr. Wells offered to back against Frank Buckland a long-legged and long-armed friend … on any night at *worm-catching.
1608. Day, Hum. out of Breath, I. [ii.] B 3 b. And see if any siluer-coated fish Will nibble at your *worme-emboweld hooks.
1880. F. Buckland, Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes, 10. A *worm farm at Nottingham.
1847. Stoddart, Angler’s Comp., 115. The *worm-fisher ought … always to possess a stock of it [hart’s horn moss].
1904. Gallichan, Fishing Spain, 64. The worm fisher has his opportunity when the streams are in spate.
1842. Pulman, Rustic Sk., 48. *Worm-fishing is followed with greatest success … during the season of mowing grass.
1857. W. C. Stewart, Pract. Angler, vii. (ed. 3), 133. Fly-fishers are apt to sneer at worm-fishing.
1747. Bowlker, Art Angling, 64. This is a very large Fly, and is to be made upon a small *Worm-hook.
1837. J. Kirkbride, Northern Angler, 12. In Carlisle … we speak of … large worm, middle, and small worm hooks.
1865. A. S. Moffat, Secr. Angling, 165. If the *worm-hunter only takes care to tread softly upon the bosom of his mother earth.
1890. H. Friend, in Science-Gossip, XXVI. 159/1. The worm-hunter will turn over every likely stone or rubbish heap which comes in his path.
1852. J. Wolley, in Zoologist, X. 3421. He employed himself in this worm-hunting for a considerable time.
1630[?]. W. Lauson, Comm. on J. Dennys, Secr. Angling, Note 13. *Worme poake of cloath.
1847. Stoddart, Angler’s Comp., 108. In preparing *worm-tackle.
1906. Macm. Mag., April, 417. The rod, basket, and, strange to say, the *worm-tin.
c. In sense 4, as worm-colic, -disease, -fever, -sickness; also in names of remedies, as worm-cake, -lozenge, -medicine, -powder, -preventive, -syrup, -tea; also worm-killing adj.
1773. Pennsylv. Gaz., 23 June, Suppl. 2/3. His never failing *worm cake, which destroys that vermin so pernicious to children.
1788. J. Hurdis, Village Curate (1797), 102. His worm-cake and his pills.
1810. James, Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), *Worm-cholic, a distemper in horses, occasioned by broad, thick, and short worms or truncheons.
1848. Dunglison, Med. Lex. (ed. 7), Helminthiasis, *worm disease.
1792. J. Townsend, Journ. Spain, II. Index, *Worm fever.
1899. Syd. Soc. Lex., Worm fever, pyrexia consequent on the irritation set up by intestinal worms.
1763. Foote, Mayor of G., I. Wks. 1799, I. 164. You … *worm-killing, blistering, glistering —.
1818. Susan Ferrier, Marriage, I. xxvii. If Mary had taken some of her nice *worm-lozenges.
1889. Buck’s Handbk. Med. Sci., VIII. 2/1. The popular ‘worm lozenges.’
1702. J. Purcell, Cholick (1714), 177. Two Girls … were seized with most violent Cholicks,… which no Clysters, Purges or *Worm Medicines could appease.
1799. Med. Jrnl., II. 151. Recommenders of some newly-broached worm-medicines.
1727. Pope, in Miscellanies, To Mr. John Moore, Author of the celebrated *Worm-Powder.
1880. Garrod & Baxter, Mat. Med., 447. The *worm-preventives are medicines which give tone to the intestinal membrane.
1899. Syd. Soc. Lex., *Worm-sickness, a severe disease occurring among sheep in Holland, set up by the fly Lucilia sericata.
1773. Pennsylv. Gaz., 30 June, 3/3. A new invented *Worm-Syrup, prepared from the Bark of a West-India Tree.
1850. Pereira, Elem. Mat. Med. (ed. 3), II. 1478. A preparation kept in the shops of the United States, and much prescribed by physicians, under the name of *worm tea, consists of spigelia root, senna, manna, and savine, mixed together.
d. In sense 16 g, as worm-drive, -gear, -gearing, -jack, -pinion, -rack, -screw, -shaft, -spindle, -thread, -wheel.
1907. Westm. Gaz., 19 Nov., 4/2. This machine … retains … the silent *worm-drive.
1884. B’ham Daily Post, 24 Jan., 3/1. Wanted, 10 ton Foundry Ladle, extra strong, with *worm gear.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl., *Worm Gearing … has an arrangement for transmitting circular motion in either direction.
1904. Mecredy, Dict. Motoring, 128. Worm gearing is used in the steering apparatus for adjustments.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., iii. 37. Fig. 1. is call’d a *Worm-Jack.
1913. F. Young & Aston, Complete Motorist (ed. 8), 177. A worm-driven axle with the *worm pinion underneath.
1891. Century Dict., *Worm-rack, a rack gearing with a worm-wheel.
1677. Flamsteed, in Rigaud, Corr. Sci. Men (1841), II. 172. To this a toothed arch was fastened, by the help of which, and a *worm screw, the piece of wood … might be raised or depressed easily.
1835. Ure, Philos. Manuf., 228. The toothed wheel, acted on by the worm-screw.
1892. Photogr. Ann., II. 391. The mechanical power is a central worm screw working in four racks on pillars.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 372. Screws or *worm-shafts, which are placed so as to keep the carriage parallel to the drawing rollers [in a spinning-mule].
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., iii. 45. That the Teeth of the Worm wheel may gather themselves into the Grooves of the Worm in the *Worm-spindle.
1773. W. Emerson, Princ. Mech. (ed. 3), 43. All things here laid down relating to the perpetual screw, do suppose that the axis of the worm-spindle lies in the plane of the wheel it works in.
1925. Chamb. Jrnl., May, 332/2. The *worm-thread and the teeth in the strip are square and of great strength.
1677. *worm-wheel [see worm-spindle].
1842. Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., V. 73/1. A vertical shaft, on the bottom of which is a worm, taking into a worm-wheel.
1925. Chamb. Jrnl., May, 332/1. An ideal clip for hose connections…. It is based on the worm and worm-wheel principle.
e. In sense 16 h and similar applications, as worm-cooler, -maker, -pipe, refrigeratory, -safe, -tank, -tub.
1812. Ann. Reg., Chron., 35. A large *worm cooler, which contained nearly 60,000 gallons of water.
1793–4. Matthews’s Bristol Directory, 31. Pewterers, *Worm-makers, and Copper-smiths.
1850. Patent, in Law Times Rep., X. 861/1. The coal is … put into a common gas retort, to which is attached a *worm pipe passing through a refrigerator.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 6. A clean copper still, furnished with a capital and *worm-refrigeratory. Ibid. (1853), (ed. 4), I. 594. The *worm-safe … is a contrivance for permitting the distiller to observe and note at any period of the distillation the alcoholic strength or specific gravity of his spirits, without access to the still.
1860. Gesner, Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865), 79. The worm is … fastened securely by iron stays into the worm tank.
1756. P. Browne, Jamaica (1789), 158. Barbadoes Cedar … is … frequently made into *worm-tubs.
1757. A. Cooper, Distiller, I. xvi. (1760), 74. Another Requisite to be observed is that the Water in the Worm-tub be kept cool.
1880. Act 13 & 44 Vict., c. 24 § 143 (1). An officer may require a distiller … to cause the water in any worm tub … to be drawn off.
f. Special combinations: worm-bark, the anthelmintic bark of the West Indian cabbage-tree, Andira inermis; worm-burrow, the hole made by a worm in the earth; a fossil perforation of this sort; worm-cast, the convoluted mass of mould thrown up by an earth worm on the surface of the soil after passing through the worm’s body; so worm-casting; worm-conveyor (see quot. 1910 and CONVEYER 4 b); † worm-earth = worm-cast; worm-fence U.S. = SNAKE-FENCE; † worm-fowl, collect. birds that feed on worms; † worm-fret a. [fret, obs. pa. pple. of FRET v.1], worm-eaten; † worm line, a spiral; worm month Sc. and N. Ir., July (or the second half of July and first half of August); cf. Da. ormemaaned; worm-oil = wormseed oil; worm pipe-fish, Syngnathus (Nerophis) lumbriciformis; worm red a., ? dull brownish red; also sb.; worm-shell, the twisted shell or tube of a marine annelid or mollusk, as Serpula and Vermetus; also applied to the animal itself; worm-snake, a name for various small harmless snakes, as Typhlops nigrescens and Carphophis amoena; worm-spring, a spiral-spring; † worm-state, the larval stage in insect transformation; † worm-stone, a spirally twisted fossil; † worm-tongued a. (see sense 10); worm-track = HELMINTHITE; worm-tube = worm-shell; worm-web Sc., a cobweb; † worm-work, ? a winding earthwork.
c. 1791. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), VII. 631/2. Geoffræa,… also called the *worm-bark tree.
1860. Mayne, Expos. Lex., Worm-Bark,… the bark of the Geoffræa Surinamensis.
1859. Page, Geol. Terms, Arenicolites,… those circular holes … which appear … on the upper surface of many sandstones, and which seem to have been *worm-burrows.
1883. Science, I. 520/2. The more slender side-roots descend chiefly through worm-burrows.
1914. Brit. Mus. Return, 213. One worm-burrow from the Cambrian of Bray Head.
1766. Complete Farmer, s.v. Walk, Which will be of service to prevent weeds from growing through the gravel, and to hinder *worm-casts.
1862. Chambers’ Encycl., III. 740/2. (Earthworm) Worm-casts gradually accumulate on the surface to form a layer of the very finest soil.
1881. Darwin, Veg. Mould, 10. On such grassy paths *worm-castings may often be seen.
1884. C. G. W. Lock, Workshop Receipts, Ser. III. 432/1. From the stones it [sc. crushed slag] passes through a *worm conveyer to a brick-press.
1910. Encycl. Brit., VII. 53. The worm conveyor, also known as the Archimedean screw,… consists of a continuous or broken blade screw set on a spindle. This spindle is made to revolve in a suitable trough, and as it revolves any material put in is propelled by the screw from one end of the trough to the other.
a. 1722. Lisle, Husb. (1757), 2. *Worm-earths also abound most in the richest land.
1796. F. Baily, Jrnl. Tour N. Amer. (1856), 111. They place split logs angular-wise on each other making what they call a *‘worm-fence’ and which is raised about five feet high.
1833. T. Hamilton, Men & Manners Amer. (1843), 149. The worm fences, and the freshness and regularity of the houses, are sadly destructive of the picturesque.
1842. Dickens, Amer. Notes, xiv. The primitive worm-fence is universal, and an ugly thing it is.
c. 1381. Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 505. I … wol sey my veyrdit … For watir foule … And I for *worme foule, seyde the foole cukkowe.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, I. 6566. *Wermfrete stokkes.
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., A iiij b. An other sorte of lines is there, that is called a spirall line, or a *worm line, whiche representeth an apparant forme of many circles, where there is not one in dede.
1782. J. Ramsay, in Allardyce, Scot. & Scotsmen 18th. C. (1888), II. 256. It looked liker February than the *worm month.
1825. Jamieson, Worm-month … the month of July, Perths…. from the hatching of many kinds of reptiles in this month.
1880. Antrim & Down Gloss., Worm month,… a fortnight before and a fortnight after Lammas.
1855. Ogilvie, Suppl., *Worm-oil.
1835. Jenyns, Man. Brit. Vertebr. Anim., 488. Syngnathus lumbriciformis, Nob. (*Worm Pipe-Fish).
1831. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, I. 309. The files … are then heated to a sort of *worm-red. Ibid. (1833), II. 80. The [sword-]blade is then hardened … by the smith heating it in the fire until it becomes worm red.
1881. Greener, Gun, 252. The pot is then placed in a bright coal fire, where it remains till the whole is of a worm red.
1666. Merrett, Pinax, 194. Tubuli in quibus vermes, *Worm-shells.
c. 1711. Petiver, Gazophyl., VI. liii. Great Indian furrowed Worm-shell.
1767. Phil. Trans., LVII. 432. The Serpula, or Worm-shell.
1776. Mendes da Costa, Elem. Conchol., 148. The third family is the Vermiculi, or Worm Shells.
1860. P. P. Carpenter, in Rep. Smithsonian Instit., 1859, 206. The Ivory Worm-shell (Vermetus eburneus). Ibid. (1861), 1860, 210. Family Vermetidæ. (Worm-Shells.)
1885. F. McCoy, Prodromus Zool. Victoria, xi. 7. Typhlops nigrescens.… The Blackish Australian *Worm-Snake.
1885. [see ground-snake, GROUND sb. 18 b].
1729. Phil. Trans., XXXVI. 133. The upper Wire or Point … is by Means of the *Worm-spring EF…, made to push the said Beam upwards with the Force of the Spring.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XIII. 488/1. There must be a worm-spring fastened to the key, and to the bar W…, to keep down the end of the key.
1752. J. Hill, Hist. Anim., 64. This Insect, in the *worm-state, is about the bigness of a louse.
1677. Plot, Oxfordsh., 126. At the same rubble Quarries we find also the Lapides vermiculares, or *Worm-stones.
1681. Grew, Musæum, III. § i. v. 303. The Worme-Stone…. Not much unlike a Steel Worme used for the drawing of Corks out of Bottles.
1593. G. Harvey, Pierce’s Super., 17. *Woorme-toungued Oratours, dust-footed Poets, and weatherwise historians.
1859. Page, Geol. Terms, Vermiculites.… the smaller … *worm-tracks which appear on the surfaces of many flaggy sandstones.
1776. Mendes da Costa, Elem. Conchol., 285. A single Vermiculus, or *Worm-tube.
1883. Science, II. 88/2. As the coral grows, it spreads round the worm-tube.
1914. Brit. Mus. Return, 213. A supposed Worm-tube from the Chalk … of Bridlington.
c. 1817. Hogg, Tales & Sk., V. 214. My bed-cloth consisted of a single covering not thicker than a *wormweb.
1821. Galt, Sir A. Wylie, I. xxi. 178. Your Leddyship’s character’s no a gauze gown, or a worm web.
1643. Lancash. Tracts Civil War (Chetham Soc.), 179. They bringe up an open trench in a *worme work, the earth being indented or sawed, for the securitie of their myners.
