measuring worm

American  

[mezh-er-ing wurm] / ˈmɛʒ ər ɪŋ ˌwɜrm /

Or measuringworm

noun

Older Use.

1. inchworm.

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measuring worm British  

noun

1. Also called: looper.   inchworm.  the larva of a geometrid moth: it has legs on its front and rear segments only and moves in a series of loops

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Etymology

Origin of measuring worm

An Americanism first recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

Kate inched over her own thoughts like a measuring worm.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Then came the tul-tok´-a-na, the insignificant measuring worm, who was despised by all the other creatures, and began to creep up the face of the rock.

From Indians of the Yosemite Valley and Vicinity Their History, Customs and Traditions by Clark, Galen

Therefore the rock is called Tutokanula, the measuring worm.

From Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Judson, Katharine Berry

The newly hatched boll worm walks like a geometrical larva or looper, a measuring worm as it was called.

From Thirty Years a Slave by Hughes, Louis

The only positive benefit which occurs to me is that the measuring worm, which formerly infested all our vegetation, is now very nearly extinct through the instrumentality of the sparrows.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882 by Various