teredo

[tuh-ree-doh]

noun

plural

teredos, teredines 

1. a shipworm of the genus Teredo.

teredo

/ tɛˈriːdəʊ /

noun

1. any marine bivalve mollusc of the genus Teredo See shipworm

Word History and Origins

Origin of teredo¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin terēdō < Greek terēdṓn wood-boring worm

Word History and Origins

Origin of teredo¹

C17: via Latin from Greek terēdōn wood-boring worm; related to Greek tetrainein to pierce

Example Sentences

The seven plagues of California’s piers are fire, ocean storms, fire, old age, civic budgets, ship worms called teredos, and fire.

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Matters reached crisis-point in the early 1980s, when it was discovered that the enormous wooden piles which hold up the entire structure were infested with teredo shipworm.

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The warm waters of the Caribbean are paradise for teredo worms, which are actually mollusks with a voracious appetite for wood.

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A long trestle at the foot of Pike Street, Seattle, at which the ship “Belle Isle,” among others, often loaded, fell in, demolished by the work of the teredo.

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"I am a teredo," replied the little muffled voice.

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