earthworm

 

From Middle English erthe-worm, erþe-worm, erþe worm (also as worm of þe erthe, worm of þe erþe), equivalent to earth +‎ worm. Compare Saterland Frisian Äidwurm (“earthworm”), West Frisian ierdwjirm (“earthworm”), Dutch aardworm (“earthworm”), less common German Erdwurm (“earthworm”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɜː(ɹ)θˌwɜː(ɹ)m/
• Hyphenation: earth‧worm

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earthworm (plural earthworms)

1. A worm that lives in the ground.
   • 1880, Journal of Microscopy‎^[1], volume 3:

     It does not, however, happen that the whole spermatosphere is converted into spermatoblasts; there remains a passive portion, which in the earthworm occupies a central position; this is the "sperm-blasophore," or "blastophoral cell."

2. A worm of the family Lumbricidae, or, more generally, of the suborder Lumbricina.
   • 1975, Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History): Zoology, volume 26, page 205:

     Before the study was begun, the known oligochaete fauna of Tasmania consisted of six species of aquatic microdriles, twenty-three indigenous species of megascolecid earthworms, and introduced earthworms of the family Lumbricidae.

3. (figurative) A contemptible person; a groveller.

• (a ground-living worm): rainworm, groundworm; wiggler, red worm, red wiggler (Southern US); nightwalker (New England); nightcrawler (Northern US, Western US); dew worm (US Great Lakes region, Canada)

• (a ground-living worm): baitworm; fishworm (Northern US, Central US); angleworm (Northern US); fishing worm (Southern US) - fish bait

• “earthworm”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “earthworm”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
•   earthworm on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• heartworm