inchworm

American  

[inch-wurm] / ˈɪntʃˌwɜrm /

noun

1. a caterpillar that moves along by bringing the rear end of its body forward and then advancing the front end, a motion known as looping; the larva of any geometrid moth.

---

inchworm British  

/ ˈɪntʃˌwɜːm /

noun

1. another name for a measuring worm

---

Etymology

Origin of inchworm

First recorded in 1860–65; inch ¹ + worm

Example Sentences

An army’s progress across country is compared to “the movement of an inchworm, which stretches forward to a spot, then waits while the rest of its body catches up.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

This should make it possible for it to, for example, wander across a surface -- similar to an inchworm that pulls itself along a branch in its own characteristic style.

From Science Daily • Oct. 19, 2023

And only a psychopath would raise a shoe to an inchworm, ladybug or other plausible picture-book protagonist.

From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2022

The baby huffed and squirmed along her torso with the blind doggedness of an inchworm until their faces were pressed together.

From New York Times • May 9, 2018

It—or whoever was in it—arched like an inchworm, attempting to creep away.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles