muckworm

American  

[muhk-wurm] / ˈmʌkˌwɜrm /

noun

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

2. a miser.

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muckworm British  

/ ˈmʌkˌwɜːm /

noun

1. any larva or worm that lives in mud

2. informal a miser

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Etymology

Origin of muckworm

First recorded in 1590–1600; muck + worm

Example Sentences

I am sick To think her wretched masters, Hamilton, The muckworm Cottington, the maniac Laud, May yet be longed-for back again.

From Browning's England A Study in English Influences in Browning by Clarke, Helen Archibald

The muckworm is no longer a creeping thing; it rears its head aloft, and makes the haughty borough-lords sneak about in holes and corners.'...

From Letters of David Ricardo to Thomas Robert Malthus, 1810-1823 by Ricardo, David

The city muckworm, who Prom peacock orient, scarce could tell a cock Of hay!

From The Humorous Poetry of the English Language; from Chaucer to Saxe by Parton, James

If the Old Lord Chatham were now alive, he would speak with respect of the muckworm, as he called the 'Change Alley people.

From Letters of David Ricardo to Thomas Robert Malthus, 1810-1823 by Ricardo, David

But alas, the stir, the scramble, the mad whirl of city life, the debasing contact with low material minds, the daily study of Prices Current, make even of me a muckworm.

From A Pessimist In Theory and Practice by Bird, Frederic Mayer