caddisworm

[kad-is-wurm]

noun

the aquatic larva of a caddisfly, having an armored head and a pair of abdominal hooks, and typically living in a case built from sand or plant debris.

Origin of caddisworm

1615–25; caddis (perhaps plural, taken as singular, of caddy, diminutive of cad larva, ghost) + worm

Also called caddis, caddice, strawworm.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for caddisworm

Historical Examples of caddisworm

Life would be finer if we did not drag that caddisworm's house of the past behind us.
John M. Synge: A Few Personal Recollections, with Biographical Notes
John Masefield