blindworm

American  

[blahynd-wurm] / ˈblaɪndˌwɜrm /

noun

1. a limbless European lizard, Anguis fragilis, related to the glass lizards.

2. a caecilian, Ichthyophis glutinosus, of Sri Lanka, that coils around its eggs.

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blindworm British  

/ ˈblaɪndˌwɜːm /

noun

1. another name for slowworm

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Etymology

Origin of blindworm

1425–75; late Middle English; see blind, worm; so called because the eyes are very small

Example Sentences

And within the grave there is no pleasure, for the blindworm battens on the root, And Desire shudders into ashes, and the tree of Passion bears no fruit.

From Selected Poems of Oscar Wilde by Wilde, Oscar

The blindworm then, is Saurophidian; it is quite as much a lizard as a snake.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851. by Various

I occasionally saw a snake, but always of the harmless, blindworm variety.

From Jethou or Crusoe Life in the Channel Isles by Suffling, Ernest R. (Ernest Richard)

The walls where hung the warrior's shining casque Are green with moss and mould; The blindworm coils where Queens have slept, nor asks For shelter from the cold.

From Brittany & Its Byways by Palliser, Bury, Mrs.

And within the grave there is no pleasure, forthe blindworm battens on the root,And Desire shudders into ashes, and the tree ofPassion bears no fruit.

From Ballad of Reading Gaol by Wilde, Oscar