Reply #4: OK, if you insist...

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

worm

worm (wurm)
n (plural worms)
1. zoology long cylindrical invertebrate: an invertebrate that has a slender, soft, cylindrical or flat body and no apparent appendages, especially an annelid, nematode, or flatworm (often used in combination)
2. insects insect larva: the larva of an insect, for example, a caterpillar, grub, or maggot
3. animal looking or moving like worm: an animal that looks or moves like a worm, for example, the shipworm or the slowworm
4. offensive term: an offensive term that deliberately insults somebody regarded as contemptible, especially somebody who behaves in a groveling way (insult)
5. something that torments: something that torments, undermines, or corrupts a person from within
a worm of discontent
6. mechanical engineering threaded shaft: a shaft with a helical thread that is the part of a gear that meshes with a toothed wheel
7. spiral condenser in still: a spiral pipe in a still in which alcohol condenses
8. comput invasive computer program: a computer program that invades computers on a network, replicates itself to prevent deletion, and interferes with the host computer’s operation. See also virus n.3
See also Trojan horse n.3

v (past wormed, past participle wormed, present participle worm·ing, 3rd person present singular worms)
1. vt proceed deviously: to make progress deviously or obsequiously
How is he going to worm his way out of trouble this time?

2. vt obtain something deviously: to obtain something from somebody by devious or underhand means
They wormed his secret out of him.

3. vt veterinary medicine medicine treat somebody for parasitic worms: to treat a person or animal in order to prevent or remove an infestation of parasitic worms
4. vt wind yarn around rope: to wind yarn around a rope so as to give it a smooth surface
5. vi move like worm: to move in a slow, slithering way
6. vi search for earthworms: to search for earthworms, especially for use as fishing bait

(Old English wurm . Ultimately from an Indo-European word that is also the ancestor of Latin vermis (source of English vermin), and English wrap, the underlying idea being “twisting.”)

-worm·er, n
-worm·ish, adj
Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2004. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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