Definition

1. Noun:

   • A small, elongated, soft-bodied invertebrate animal: This is the primary biological meaning, referring to creatures such as earthworms, roundworms, or flatworms.
   • A nasty or contemptible person: Used figuratively to describe someone considered morally weak, unethical, or deserving of scorn.
   • A self-replicating computer program: In computing, a type of malicious software (malware) that spreads across networks without needing to attach itself to another program.
   • A spiral gear or screw thread: In mechanics, a component with a spiral thread that engages with a toothed wheel (a worm gear).

2. Verb:

   • To move with a twisting, sinuous motion: To progress like a worm, often through a narrow or crowded space.
   • To obtain information or gain a position through persistent, indirect, or insidious means: To achieve something by gradual, artful, or underhanded effort.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The bird pulled a long worm from the damp soil. (Referring to the animal.)
  • Don't trust him; he's a real worm. (Referring to a contemptible person.)
  • A computer worm infected the entire office network overnight. (Referring to malware.)
  • The machine uses a worm and wheel to transfer motion at a right angle. (Referring to the mechanical part.)

• Verb:

  • The soldier had to worm his way through the dense undergrowth. (Referring to a twisting movement.)
  • She managed to worm the secret password out of him. (Referring to extracting information.)
  • He tried to worm himself into the manager's confidence. (Referring to gaining favor insidiously.)

Advanced Usage

• "The worm has turned": An idiom meaning a person who was previously passive or submissive has finally rebelled or retaliated.

  • He was always quiet, but after the unfair treatment, the worm has turned.

• "A worm's-eye view": A perspective seen from the ground or a very low position, the opposite of a bird's-eye view.

  • The photographer took a worm's-eye view of the towering skyscrapers.

Variants and Related Words

• Wormy (adj): Infested with or resembling worms; (figuratively) morally corrupt.

  • The old timber was wormy and rotten.

• Bookworm (n): A person who is devoted to reading. (This is a compound word listed as a variant, not as a primary definition of "worm").

  • She's a real bookworm; she's always in the library.

Synonyms

• Noun (animal): grub, maggot, larva.
• Noun (contemptible person): wretch, creep, snake.
• Verb (move): wriggle, squirm, writhe.
• Verb (extract): extract, elicit, wheedle.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Worm out of (something): To avoid a responsibility or duty through deceit or evasion.

  • He always tries to worm out of doing the dishes.

• Worm into (something): To insinuate oneself into a group, position, or someone's favor.

  • The spy wormed into the organization over several months.

Related Idioms

• Even a worm will turn: This is the full form of the idiom "the worm has turned," expressing the same idea that everyone has a limit to their patience.

  • Be careful how you treat him; even a worm will turn.

• The worm of conscience: A feeling of guilt or remorse that gnaws at one's mind.

  • He was haunted by the worm of conscience after his lie.

Noun

1. screw thread on a gear with the teeth of a worm wheel or rack
2. 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
3. a person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect
4. 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

Verb

1. 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