woodworm

[woo d-wurm]

noun

a worm or larva that breeds in or bores into wood.

Origin of woodworm

First recorded in 1530–40; wood¹ + worm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for woodworm

Historical Examples of woodworm

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.
Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Vol I
Edward Luther Stevenson

British Dictionary definitions for woodworm

woodworm

noun

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

the condition caused in wood by any of these larvae

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