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A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a
serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like. |
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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. |
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Any helminth; an entozoon. |
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Any annelid. |
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An insect larva. |
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Same as Vermes. |
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An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's
mind with remorse. |
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A being debased and despised. |
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Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm |
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The thread of a screw. |
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A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew,
used for drawing balls from firearms. |
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A certain muscular band in the tongue of some animals, as the
dog; the lytta. See Lytta. |
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The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to
economize space. See Illust. of Still. |
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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. |
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To work slowly, gradually, and secretly. |
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To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and
secret means; -- often followed by out. |
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To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge
from, as a firearm. See Worm, n. 5 (b). |
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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. |
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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. |