muckworm

[muhk-wurm]

noun

(not in technical use) the larva of any of several insects, as the dung beetle, which lives in or beneath manure.

a miser.

Origin of muckworm

First recorded in 1590–1600; muck + worm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for muckworm

Historical Examples of muckworm

"In that he lied like the muckworm that he is," I exclaimed.
The Strolling Saint
Raphael Sabatini
You may hang the muckworm, and what shall that profit any one?
The Lion's Skin
Rafael Sabatini
He is as handsome a young fellow as ever was hatched from a muckworm.
The International Magazine, Vol. IV. New-York, December 1, 1851. No. V.
Various
Peace, Muckworm, or my Sword shall stop thy Breath for ever.
The Stolen Heiress
Susanna Centlivre
The "muckworm" Cottington, as Browning calls him, suggested the sentence which was carried out.
Browning's England
Helen Archibald Clarke

British Dictionary definitions for muckworm

muckworm

noun

any larva or worm that lives in mud

informal a miser

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