[f. WORM v. + -ER1.]
1. One who pries into the affairs of others; one who ‘worms out’ (secrets).
The meaning in quot. 1602 is uncertain.
1602. Chettle, Hoffman, III. (1631), F 1 b. How say you, most valiant and reprobate Country men: haue ye not heard I haue bin a stinger, a tickler, a wormer.
1822. Mrs. Nathan, Langreath, III. 465. The insidious wormer of family secrets.
2. a. One who catches or collects worms for bait.
1880. F. Buckland, Nat. Hist. Brit. Fishes, 11. It is a very interesting sight to see the lights of the numerous wormers when they are out with their lanterns collecting of a dark night.
1881. Athenæum, 30 April, 594/2. A long reach is indispensable to a good wormer.
b. One who angles with a worm or worms as bait.
1891. A. Lang, Angling Sk., 26. In a small burn a skilled wormer may almost depopulate the pools.
1909. W. C. Platts, Light Lines, 82. And how keen some of these old wormers are!
3. U.S. = WORM sb. 16 b.
1891. Century Dict.
1895. Funk’s Standard Dict.
1911. Webster.
