vermiculate
Americanverb (used with object)
adjective
-
worm-eaten, or appearing as if worm-eaten.
-
sinuous; tortuous; intricate.
vermiculate thought processes.
verb
adjective
-
vermicular; sinuous
-
worm-eaten or appearing as if worm-eaten
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(of thoughts, etc) insinuating; subtly tortuous
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vermiculate
First recorded in 1595–1605, vermiculate is from the Latin word vermiculātus (past participle of vermiculārī to be worm-eaten). See vermicule, -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He regarded the thing as vermiculate, and ready to corrupt the obedience.
From The Elect Lady by MacDonald, George
Remarks.—Specimens from the southern edge of the Edwards Plateau and the eastern edge of the Stockton Plateau have larger flecks on the back that tend to form a vermiculate pattern like that of S. guttilatus.
From A Taxonomic Revision of the Leptodactylid Frog Genus Syrrhophus Cope by Lynch, John D.
And to leave her would be to quarrel, and start a thousand vermiculate questions, as Lord Bacon calls them, for which life is too serious in my eyes.
From Robert Falconer by MacDonald, George
My life seemed only a vermiculate one, a crawling about of half-thoughts-half-feelings through the corpse of a decaying existence.
From Wilfrid Cumbermede by MacDonald, George
With its feudal class system intact - if moth-eaten and vermiculated - British society exhibits small but crucial differences in its satiric temperament.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2015
He took the scientists to the kitchen and there in the cooking pot were the telltale head and feet of Scotopelia bouvieri, the little-known vermiculated fishing owl.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 27, 2013
A grayish species with the back and underparts finely vermiculated with reddish brown, and with streaks of darker.
From The Bird Book Illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs. by Reed, Chester A. (Chester Albert)
Above and breast rich buff finely vermiculated with black.
From Color Key to North American Birds with bibiographical appendix by Chapman, Frank M.
Wing-coverts finely vermiculated; tail coppery tipped with black; outer web and end of outer feathers white, mottled with black.
From Color Key to North American Birds with bibiographical appendix by Chapman, Frank M.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
