(worms) intestinal or other internal parasites:she ate so much so often that I thought she had worms
used in names of long slender insect larvae, especially those in fruit or wood, e.g. army worm, woodworm.
used in names of other animals that resemble worms in some way, e.g. slow-worm, shipworm.
a maggot regarded as eating corpses buried in the ground:food for worms
Phyla Annelida (segmented worms), Nematoda (roundworms), and Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and up to twelve minor phyla
2 informal a weak or despicable person (often used as a general term of abuse):it was unbearable that such a worm could be so successfulyou ungrateful little worm!
3a helical device or component, in particular:
the threaded cylinder in a worm gear.
the coiled pipe of a still in which the vapour is cooled and condensed.
4 Computing a self-replicating program able to propagate itself across a network, typically having a detrimental effect.
ზმნა
Universal
1 [no object, with adverbial of direction] move with difficulty by crawling or wriggling:I wormed my way along the roadside ditch
2 [with object] (worm one's way into) insinuate one’s way into:George tried to worm his way into his girlfriend’s life
(worm something out of) obtain information from (someone) by cunning persistence:I did manage to worm a few details out of him
3 [with object] treat (an animal) with a preparation designed to expel parasitic worms:I wormed her over a course of three weeks
4 [with object] Nautical, archaic make (a rope) smooth by winding thread between the strands.
(even) a worm will turn
proverb (even) a meek person will resist or retaliate if pushed too far:it was predictable that one day the worm would turn
