shipworm

[ ship-wurm ]
/ ˈʃɪpˌwɜrm /

noun

any of various wormlike marine bivalve mollusks that burrow into the timbers of ship, wharves, etc.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of shipworm

First recorded in 1770–80; ship1 + worm

Words nearby shipworm

shippon, ships that pass in the night, shipshape, shipside, shipway, shipworm, shipwreck, shipwright, shipyard, shiralee, shiraz
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for shipworm

  • The teredo or shipworm was a serious peril in the days before the sheathing of ships.

    Days of the Discoverers|L. Lamprey

British Dictionary definitions for shipworm

shipworm
/ (ˈʃɪpˌwɜːm) /

noun

any wormlike marine bivalve mollusc of the genus Teredo and related genera and family Teredinidae. They bore into wooden piers, ships, etc, by means of drill-like shell valvesSee also piddock
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