Library / English Dictionary

WORM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("worm" is a kind of...):

invertebrate (any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "worm"):

helminth; parasitic worm (worm that is parasitic on the intestines of vertebrates especially roundworms and tapeworms and flukes)

woodworm (a larva of a woodborer)

acanthocephalan; spiny-headed worm (any of various worms living parasitically in intestines of vertebrates having a retractile proboscis covered with many hooked spines)

arrowworm; chaetognath (any worm of the Chaetognatha; transparent marine worm with horizontal lateral and caudal fins and a row of movable curved spines at each side of the mouth)

flatworm; platyhelminth (parasitic or free-living worms having a flattened body)

nemertean; nemertine; proboscis worm; ribbon worm (soft unsegmented marine worms that have a threadlike proboscis and the ability to stretch and contract)

beard worm; pogonophoran (slender animal with tentacles and a tubelike outer covering; lives on the deep ocean bottom)

nematode; nematode worm; roundworm (unsegmented worms with elongated rounded body pointed at both ends; mostly free-living but some are parasitic)

annelid; annelid worm; segmented worm (worms with cylindrical bodies segmented both internally and externally)

Derivation:

wormy (infested with or damaged (as if eaten) by worms)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Screw thread on a gear with the teeth of a worm wheel or rack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("worm" is a kind of...):

screw (a fastener with a tapered threaded shank and a slotted head)

Holonyms ("worm" is a part of...):

worm gear (gear consisting of a shaft with screw thread (the worm) that meshes with a toothed wheel (the worm wheel); changes the direction of the axis of rotary motion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A software program capable of reproducing itself that can spread from one computer to the next over a network

Example:

worms take advantage of automatic file sending and receiving features found on many computers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("worm" is a kind of...):

malevolent program (a computer program designed to have undesirable or harmful effects)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect

Synonyms:

dirt ball; insect; louse; worm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("worm" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

To move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)

Example:

The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt's embrace

Synonyms:

squirm; twist; worm; wrestle; wriggle; writhe

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "worm" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "worm"):

wrench (make a sudden twisting motion)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

Beta-amyloid also showed protective effects in C. elegans worms that were genetically altered to express human beta-amyloid.

(Alzheimer’s protein may have natural antibiotic role, NIH)

This leads to an impaired uptake of glucose, a depletion of glycogen stores, and results in the worm's death.

(Albendazole, NCI Thesaurus)

Parasitic worms, which infect millions of people and other animals around the world, influence how the immune system responds to diseases like HIV and tuberculosis.

(Treatment for parasitic worms helps animals survive infectious diseases--and spread them, NSF)

To better understand this process, Menachem Katz, a researcher at Rockefeller University, looked to C. elegans CEPsh glial cells, which he suspected to be the worm equivalents of astrocytes.

(Research on repetitive worm behavior has implications for understanding human diseases, National Science Foundation)

Mosquitoes also transmit Dengue viruses and filarial worms.

(How mosquitoes detect people, NIH)

The cephalostatins comprise a family of more than 30 trisdecacyclic bissteroidal pyrazines with extreme cytotoxicity against human tumors, isolated from the African marine worm Cephalodiscus gilchristi.

(Cephalostatin, NCI Thesaurus)

This is because their short lifespans allow for scientists to observe several generations of worms within a short period of time, yielding quicker results for studies.

(Roundworms have the Right Stuff, NASA)

Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In one study, scientists analyzed the human, fly, and worm transcriptomes—the complete collection of gene transcripts (or “readouts”).

(Expanding Our Understanding of Genomics, NIH)

“The miserable vanity of these earth-worms!” she said, when she had so far controlled the angry heavings of her breast, that she could trust herself to speak.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)