n. - A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like.
n. - 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.
n. - Any helminth; an entozoon.
n. - Any annelid.
n. - An insect larva.
n. - Same as Vermes.
n. - An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's mind with remorse.
n. - A being debased and despised.
n. - Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm
n. - The thread of a screw.
n. - A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.
n. - A certain muscular band in the tongue of some animals, as the dog; the lytta. See Lytta.
n. - The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to economize space. See Illust. of Still.
n. - A short revolving screw, the threads of which drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel by gearing into its teeth or cogs. See Illust. of Worm gearing, below.
v. i. - To work slowly, gradually, and secretly.
v. t. - To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; -- often followed by out.
v. t. - To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm. See Worm, n. 5 (b).
n. - 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.
n. - 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.