maggot

[ mag-uht ]

/ ˈmæg ət /

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noun

a soft-bodied, legless larva of certain flies.

Archaic. an odd fancy; whim.

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Origin of maggot

1425–75; late Middle English magot, magat, unexplained variant of maddock,Middle English mathek<Old Norse mathkr; akin to Danish maddik maggot, Old English matha, mathu grub, maggot, Old High German mado maggot

Words nearby maggot

magenta, magfilm, maggid, Maggie, Maggiore, maggot, maggoty, maghemite, Magherafelt, Maghreb, Maghrebi

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use maggot in a sentence

What you probably won’t picture is trudging through a landscape littered with feces and rotting corpses — what a world devoid of maggots and dung beetles would look like.
Why you should care about ‘The Insect Crisis’|Allie Wilkinson|April 26, 2022|Science News
The flies’ larvae — or maggots — consume organic wastes, such as feces.
A dirty and growing problem: Too few toilets|Stephanie Parker|September 24, 2020|Science News For Students
Once the maggots have dined on all the poop they can, the insects are boiled.
A dirty and growing problem: Too few toilets|Stephanie Parker|September 24, 2020|Science News For Students
Pundits in Myanmar call Rohingya Muslims beasts, dogs, and maggots.
Believing in Monsters: David Livingstone Smith on the Subhuman - Facts So Romantic|Eric Schwitzgebel|September 11, 2020|Nautilus

But the maggot-infested underside of News of the World is a metaphor for what his whole tabloid operation has wrought.
Murdoch’s Dark Arts|Tina Brown|July 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
However strange this maggot may appear in my chest and brain, it is no more than true.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick
She's got some maggot in her brain, and she wants to air it.
Sarah's School Friend|May Baldwin
And in the economy of nature man is of no more consequence than the maggot.
Theism or Atheism|Chapman Cohen
In relation to their surroundings man and the maggot are in the same position.
Theism or Atheism|Chapman Cohen
The whole section is well characterized by the uniformly maggot-like nature of the larva.
Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects|C. V. Riley

British Dictionary definitions for maggot

maggot

/ (ˈmæɡət) /

noun

the soft limbless larva of dipterous insects, esp the housefly and blowfly, occurring in decaying organic matter

rare a fancy or whim

Word Origin for maggot

C14: from earlier mathek; related to Old Norse mathkr worm, Old English matha, Old High German mado grub

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for maggot

maggot

[ măg′ət ]

The legless, soft-bodied, wormlike larva of any of various flies of the order Diptera, often found in decaying matter.

maggot

Origin of maggot

Words nearby maggot

Words related to maggot

How to use maggot in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for maggot

Word Origin for maggot

Medical definitions for maggot