earthworm
Americannoun
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any one of numerous annelid worms that burrow in soil and feed on soil nutrients and decaying organic matter.
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Archaic. a mean or groveling person.
noun
Regionalisms
The earthworm, a commonly used bait for angling, is also called an angleworm in the Northern U.S. and a fishworm in the Northern and Midland U.S. and in New England. It is called a fishing worm in parts of the Midland and Southern U.S., and a wiggler in the Southern U.S. Because the worm often comes to the surface of the earth when the ground is cool or wet, it is also called a nightwalker in New England, a nightcrawler, chiefly in the Northern, North Midland, and Western U.S., and a dew worm, chiefly in the Inland North and Canada. It is also called a red worm in the North Central, South Midland, and Southern U.S.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of earthworm
First recorded in 1400–50, earthworm is from the late Middle English word ertheworm. See earth, worm
Explanation
An earthworm is a small, legless, tube-shaped animal that lives in soil. Gardeners are familiar with earthworms, which are common in healthy garden dirt. Earthworms are not only happy to burrow in the dirt of your garden, they're also incredibly useful — they improve the fertility of soil by converting its organic matter to humus, which helps plants grow. The burrowing of an earthworm is also good for the soil's structure, introducing small tunnels that allow it to drain and air to circulate throughout. They may not be pretty, but earthworms are very helpful.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In a wordless two-page spread, a dog lopes solemnly toward the pickle, trailed by a mournful earthworm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Their movement through the sand appears closer to the fluidity of a snake than to the stepwise undulations of an earthworm.
From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2024
Ragworms are a group of around 500 species of segmented, mostly-marine worms that look a bit like a cross between a centipede and an earthworm.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2024
At least 70 imported earthworm species have colonized the continent, and represent a largely overlooked threat to native ecosystems, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford University, Sorbonne University, and other institutions.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 9, 2024
Last year for the earthworm project, he’d been stuck with some kids who didn’t want to touch worms and another kid who kept trying to force everyone to eat the worms.
From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia
They make a trade: a bag of live earthworms for a bag of Arby’s.
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2026
Now we get the “Slow-Lows,” bottom-feeders who slither on the ground and survive off leftovers from other creatures: earthworms or other easy-to-catch prey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025
Some gulls are coming to live closer to people, adding human leftovers to their natural menu of fish, crabs, starfish and earthworms.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2025
Annelid worms -- including the most familiar among them, the earthworms -- are a broadly distributed, highly diverse, economically and environmentally important group of animals.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2024
Woodcocks feed heavily on earthworms, which they probe for with their long bills.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
