worm-eaten

[ wurm-eet-n ]

adjective

1. eaten into or gnawed by worms.
2. impaired by time, decayed or antiquated.

worm-eaten

adjective

1. eaten into by worms

   a worm-eaten table

2. decayed; rotten
3. old-fashioned; antiquated

Other Words From

• un·worm-eaten adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of worm-eaten¹

1350–1400; Middle English wormeten; worm, eat, -en ³

Example Sentences

Such leaves sometimes are worm-eaten and of various colors on the same leaf—one part dark and another light.

From Project Gutenberg

How triumphantly was the first copy, now worm-eaten and forgotten, contemplated by the author!

From Project Gutenberg

Both rooms were furnished, but cold and gloomy; the floor of what the girl called her dressing-room was chippy and worm-eaten.

From Project Gutenberg

Pay no attention to the worm-eaten plank, but take out the sound one and dry it in the sun.

From Project Gutenberg

But for a worm-eaten trunk and a line of old suits dangling from pegs around the wall, it was bare.

From Project Gutenberg