vermin
[vur-min]
- noxious, objectionable, or disgusting animals collectively, especially those of small size that appear commonly and are difficult to control, as flies, lice, bedbugs, cockroaches, mice, and rats.
- an objectionable or obnoxious person, or such persons collectively.
- animals that prey upon game, as coyotes or weasels.
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Origin of vermin
1300–50; Middle English vermyne < Anglo-French, Middle French vermin, vermine < Vulgar Latin *verminum, *vermina, based on Latin vermin-; see verminate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
insect, rodent, ant, mosquito, flea, animal, bugs, fly, rat, snake, weasel, termite, lice, bedbug, mice, centipedeExamples from the Web for vermin
Contemporary Examples
Without the beeps and whirs of a cellphone, you can use your ears to detect crickets, mice, or other vermin in your home.
The RIP offers a clear window into the intersection of poverty and vermin.
“They kept the apartment filthy and they had vermin problems,” the neighbor says.
NY Couple Not Terrorists, Say Cops, Just Rich Kids With Drug HabitsMichael Daly, Lizzie Crocker
January 1, 2013
If you thought Frankenstorm would rid Gotham of its vermin, think again.
Sandy may actually help the vermin spread diseases, as a matter of fact.
Historical Examples
Did I not very particularly ask you whether there were any vermin in it?
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
These vermin are more to be feared than hangman's cord or headsman's axe.'
Micah ClarkeArthur Conan Doyle
The world in general is under a mistake as to the nature of these vermin.
Vivian GreyEarl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
He belonged to the class of humanity which you can call by no other name than that of vermin.
The AvengerE. Phillips Oppenheim
Suddenly he thrust out an arm and appeared to crush some vermin against the wall.
L'AssommoirEmile Zola
vermin
- (functioning as plural) small animals collectively, esp insects and rodents, that are troublesome to man, domestic animals, etc
- plural -min an unpleasant, obnoxious, or dangerous person
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French vermine, from Latin vermis a worm
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for vermin
n.
c.1300, "noxious animals," from Anglo-French and Old French vermin, from Vulgar Latin *verminum "vermin," possibly including bothersome insects, collective noun formed from Latin vermis "worm" (see worm). Extended to "low, obnoxious people" by 1560s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
vermin
(vûr′mĭn)- Any of various small animals or insects, such as rats or cockroaches, that are destructive, annoying, or injurious to health.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.