Zool. Pl. lumbrici. [L. lumbrīcus.] a. The earth-worm, L. terrestris. b. The round-worm which infests the intestines, Ascaris lumbricoides (frequently referred to Lumbricus).
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 150. Leie aboue lumbricus of þe erþe, þat beth erþe-wormes staumpid & boilid wiþ oile of rosis.
1802–12. Bentham, Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827), V. 202. In a relaxed constitution of the body politic, acquitted and unprosecuted malefactors … are no less congenial … than the tænia, the lumbricus, and the ascaris are to the natural body.
1808. Med. Jrnl., XIX. 307. Since taking the electuary, [he] has voided another lumbricus.
1841–71. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4), 248. In the Lumbrici,… every ring … is found to support a series of sharp retractile spines.
attrib. 1822–34. Good’s Study Med. (ed. 4), I. 82. The contents of the stomach, together with a lumbricus worm … were effused in the chest.
