worm

英 [wɜːm] 美[wɝm]
  • n. 虫,蠕虫;蜗杆;螺纹;小人物
  • vt. 使蠕动;给除虫;使缓慢前进
  • vi. 慢慢前进;蠕行
  • n. (Worm)人名;(德、丹、葡)沃尔姆

CET4TEM4考研CET6中低频词核心词汇

词态变化


复数: worms;第三人称单数: worms;过去式: wormed;过去分词: wormed;现在分词: worming;

助记提示


1. see wrench.

中文词源


worm 虫

来自PIE*wrmi,虫,来自PIE*wer,弯,转,扭曲,词源同wring,wriggle.

英文词源


worm
worm: [OE] The ancestral meaning of worm appears to be ‘snake’; its application to smaller limbless creatures is a secondary development. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic *wurmiz, *wurmaz, which also produced German wurm, Dutch worm, and Danish orm ‘worm’ and Swedish orm ‘snake’. And this in turn went back to Indo-European *wrmi-, *wrmo- (source also of Latin vermis, from which English gets vermilion and vermin), a possible derivative of the base *wer- ‘turn, twist’ (source of English convert, reverse, etc) – in which case the worm would be etymologically the ‘twisting’ or ‘winding’ creature.
=> vermilion, vermin
worm (n.)
Old English wurm, variant of wyrm "serpent, snake, dragon, reptile," also in later Old English "earthworm," from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz (cognates: Old Saxon, Old High German, German wurm, Old Frisian and Dutch worm, Old Norse ormr, Gothic waurms "serpent, worm"), from PIE *wrmi- "worm" (cognates: Greek rhomos, Latin vermis "worm," Old Russian vermie "insects," Lithuanian varmas "insect, gnat"), probably from root *wer- (3) "turn" (see versus).

The ancient category of these was much more extensive than the modern, scientific, one and included serpents, scorpions, maggots, and the supposed causes of certain diseases. For substitution of -o- for -u-, see come. As an insult meaning "abject, miserable person" it dates from Old English. Worms "any disease arising from the presence of parasitic worms" is from late Old English. Can of worms figurative for "difficult problem" is from 1951, from the literal can of worms a fisherman might bring with him, on the image of something all tangled up.
worm (v.)
"to move like a worm," c. 1600, from worm (n.). In figurative senses attested from 1620s, suggesting patient, sinuous progress. Meaning "to free from worms" is from 1620s. Related: Wormed; worming.

双语例句


1. The slow-worm is in fact not a snake but a legless lizard.
蛇蜥其实不是蛇,而是无脚的蜥蜴。

来自柯林斯例句

2. It took me weeks to worm the facts out of him.
我花了几个星期才从他那儿套出事情的真相。

来自柯林斯例句

3. I worm all my birds in early spring.
早春的时候我给我所有的鸟打虫。

来自柯林斯例句

4. Running water is never stale and a door - hinge never gets worm - eaten.
流水不腐,户枢不蠹.

来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5. The worm inched along.
那条虫向前蠕动.

来自《简明英汉词典》