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Synonyms for wormlike

Grammar : Adj
Spell : wurm
Phonetic Transcription : wÉœrm

Définition of wormlike

Origin :
  • Old English wurm, variant of wyrm "serpent, dragon," also in later Old English "earthworm," from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz (cf. Old Saxon, Old High German, German wurm, Old Frisian and Dutch worm, Old Norse ormr, Gothic waurms "serpent, worm"), from PIE *wrmi-/*wrmo- "worm" (cf. Greek rhomos, Latin vermis "worm," Old Russian vermie "insects," Lithuanian varmas "insect, gnat"), possibly from root *wer- (3) "turn" (see versus).
  • The ancient category of these was much more extensive than the modern, scientific, one and included serpents, scorpions, maggots, and the supposed causes of certain diseases. For substitution of -o- for -u-, see come. As an insult meaning "abject, miserable person" it dates from Old English.
  • adj vermicular
  • adj cringing
Example sentences :
  • Vermiculate: worm-like in form: a marking with wormlike tracings.
  • Extract from : « Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology » by John. B. Smith
  • He named it vermiculatus, owing to the "wormlike" appearance of its markings.
  • Extract from : « Bass, Pike, Perch, and Others » by James Alexander Henshall
  • It usually remains motionless, lying on its side, or else displays its drowsy activity merely by feeble, wormlike movements.
  • Extract from : « The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles » by Jean Henri Fabre
  • The wormlike thread of men wound round picquet after picquet, and throttled the sentries on the glacis, and at the gate.
  • Extract from : « The Rise of Canada, from Barbarism to Wealth and Civilisation » by Charles Roger
  • The eggs generally hatch in a few days, and a minute, white, wormlike larva emerges (Fig. 1).
  • Extract from : « The Flea » by Harold Russell
  • Ocelli appear to be primitive types of insect eye which are, perhaps, an inheritance from a wormlike ancestor.
  • Extract from : « The Flea » by Harold Russell
  • Half-way up the avenue they whizzed past three policemen, one of whom was carrying on his back a strange and wormlike thing.
  • Extract from : « All on the Irish Shore » by E. Somerville and Martin Ross
  • Along the bottom, between the curious mounds, writhed a wormlike thing.
  • Extract from : « Astounding Stories of Super-Science September 1930 » by Various

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019