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woodworm

[woo d-wurm]
See more synonyms for woodworm on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a worm or larva that breeds in or bores into wood.
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Origin of woodworm

First recorded in 1530–40; wood1 + worm
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for woodworm

Historical Examples

  • Because, i' faith, the woodworm has split them both from the bottom.

    The Captiva and The Mostellaria

    Plautus

  • Even our dull ears can detect the woodworm, but we cannot locate him.

    The Woodpeckers

    Fannie Hardy Eckstorm

  • It will be noted in the reproduction that the sphere is well shot through by the industrious book- or woodworm.

British Dictionary definitions for woodworm

woodworm

noun
  1. any of various insect larvae that bore into wooden furniture, beams, etc, esp the larvae of the furniture beetle, Anobium punctatum, and the deathwatch beetle
  2. the condition caused in wood by any of these larvae
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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