Worm

n.	1.
	1.	A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like. There came a viper out of the heat, and leapt on his hand. When the men of the country saw the worm hang on his hand, they said, This man must needs be a murderer. - Tyndale (Acts xxviii. 3, 4). 'T is slander, Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue Outvenoms all the worms of Nile. - Shak. When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm, His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks. - Longfellow.
	2.	(Zool.) Any small creeping animal or reptile, either entirely without feet, or with very short ones, including a great variety of animals; as, an earthworm; the blindworm.
	3.	An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's mind with remorse. The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul! - Shak.
	4.	A being debased and despised. I am a worm, and no man. - Ps. xxii. 6.
	5.	Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm The threads of screws, when bigger than can be made in screw plates, are called worms. - Moxon.
	6.	(Anat.) A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms. Worm abscess (Med.) an abscess produced by the irritation resulting from the lodgment of a worm in some part of the body. Worm fence See under Fence. Worm gear a - (Mach.) A worm wheel. b - Worm gearing. Worm gearing gearing consisting of a worm and worm wheel working together. Worm grass a - (Bot.) See Pinkroot, 2 (a). b - The white stonecrop (Sedum album) reputed to have qualities as a vermifuge. Worm oil (Med.) an anthelmintic consisting of oil obtained from the seeds of Chenopodium anthelminticum. - Dr. Prior. Worm powder (Med.) an anthelmintic powder. Worm snake b - (Zool.) See Thunder snake (b), under Thunder. Worm tea (Med.) an anthelmintic tea or tisane. Worm tincture (Med.) a tincture prepared from dried earthworms, oil of tartar, spirit of wine, etc. Worm wheel a cogwheel having teeth formed to fit into the spiral spaces of a screw called a worm, so that the wheel may be turned by, or may turn, the worm; - called also worm gear, and sometimes tangent wheel. See Illust. of Worm gearing, above.
v. i.	1.	To work slowly, gradually, and secretly. [imp. & p. p. Wormed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Worming.] When debates and fretting jealousy Did worm and work within you more and more, Your color faded. - Herbert.
v. t.	1.	To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; - often followed by out. They find themselves wormed out of all power. - Swift. They . . . wormed things out of me that I had no desire to tell. - Dickens.
	2.	To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm. See Worm, n. 5 (b).
	3.	To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of, as a dog, for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw. The operation was formerly supposed to guard against canine madness. The men assisted the laird in his sporting parties, wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies. - Sir W. Scott.
	4.	(Naut.) To wind rope, yarn, or other material, spirally round, between the strands of, as a cable; to wind with spun yarn, as a small rope. Ropes . . . are generally wormed before they are served. - Totten. To worm one's self into to enter into gradually by arts and insinuations; as, to worm one's self into favor.

Noun	1.	worm - any of numerous relatively small elongated soft-bodied animals especially of the phyla Annelida and Chaetognatha and Nematoda and Nemertea and Platyhelminthes; also many insect larvae
	2.	worm - a person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect Synonyms: dirt ball, insect, louse
	3.	worm - a software program capable of reproducing itself that can spread from one computer to the next over a network; "worms take advantage of automatic file sending and receiving features found on many computers"
	4.	worm - screw thread on a gear with the teeth of a worm wheel or rack
Verb	1.	worm - to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling); "The prisoner writhed in discomfort"; "The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt's embrace" Synonyms: squirm, twist, wriggle, writhe, wrestle

1.		WORM - Write-Once Read-Many
2.	(networking, security)	worm - (From "Tapeworm" in John Brunner's novel "The Shockwave Rider", via XEROX PARC) A program that propagates itself over a network, reproducing itself as it goes. Compare virus. Nowadays the term has negative connotations, as it is assumed that only crackers write worms. Perhaps the best-known example was the Great Worm. Compare Trojan horse.

Write Once Read Many (CD) To see a worm in your dream, represents weakness and general negativity. You have a very low opinion of yourself or of someone in your life. To dream that the worm is crawling on your body, indicates that you feel someone around you is taking advantage of your and feeding off your kind heartedness. To see you using a worm as fish bait, foretells of success and material gain.amble, angleworm, animal, armyworm, beast, blast, blight, blighter, bollworm, bookworm, cancer, canker, claudicate, contort, corkscrew, cotton worm, crawl, creep, crinkle, cur, dog, dogtrot, drag, drag along, drag out, dry rot, earthworm, earworm, edge in, fireworm, fishworm, foist, fungus, go dead slow, go on tiptoe, go slow, grovel, gumshoe, helminth, hobble, hound, hyena, idle, inch, inch along, inchworm, infiltrate, insect, intort, jog-trot, laze, leech, limp, looper, lowlife, meander, measuring worm, mildew, mold, mongrel, mosey, moth, moth and rust, mucker, must, nematode, night crawler, nightwalk, nightwalker, no-good, pad, pest, pig, poke, poke along, polecat, prowl, pussyfoot, reptile, rot, rust, saunter, scallop, scrabble, scramble, screw, serpent, serpentine, shuffle along, sidle, silkworm, skunk, slink, smut, snake, sneak, squiggle, squirm, stagger along, steal, steal along, stroll, swine, swirl, tapeworm, tippytoe, tiptoe, toddle, toddle along, totter along, traipse, turn, tussah, twine, twirl, twist, twist and turn, varmint, vermin, viper, waddle, walk, webworm, whelp, whirl, whorl, wiggle, wind, wireworm, woodworm, work in, worm along, wring, writhe

Definitions Index: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

About this site and copyright information - Online Dictionary Home - Privacy Policy