oil of tartar, spirit of wine, etc. [Obs.] — Worm wheel, a cogwheel having teeth formed to fit into the
spiral spaces of a screw called a worm, so that the wheel may be turned by, or may turn, the worm; —
called also worm gear, and sometimes tangent wheel. See Illust. of Worm gearing, above.
Worm
(Worm) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Wormed ; p. pr. & vb. n. Worming.] To work slowly, gradually,
and secretly.
When debates and fretting jealousy
Did worm and work within you more and more,
Your color faded.
Herbert. Worm
(Worm), v. t.
1. To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; — often followed by out.
They find themselves wormed out of all power.
Swift.
They . . . wormed things out of me that I had no desire to tell.
Dickens. 2. To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm. See Worm, n. 5 (b).
3. To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of, as a dog, for the purpose of checking a disposition
to gnaw. The operation was formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.
The men assisted the laird in his sporting parties, wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies.
Sir W. Scott. 4. (Naut.) To wind rope, yarn, or other material, spirally round, between the strands of, as a cable; to
wind with spun yarn, as a small rope.
Ropes . . . are generally wormed before they are served.
Totten. To worm one's self into, to enter into gradually by arts and insinuations; as, to worm one's self into
favor.
Wormal
(Wor"mal) n. (Zoöl.) See Wormil.
Worm-eaten
(Worm"-eat`en) a.
1. Eaten, or eaten into, by a worm or by worms; as, worm-eaten timber.
Concave as a covered goblet, or a worm-eaten nut.
Shak. 2. Worn-out; old; worthless. [R.] Sir W. Raleigh.
— Worm"-eat`en*ness, n. [R.] Dr. John Smith.
Wormed
(Wormed) a. Penetrated by worms; injured by worms; worm-eaten; as, wormed timber.
Wormhole
(Worm"hole`) n. A burrow made by a worm.
Wormian
(Wor"mi*an) a. (Anat.) Discovered or described by Olanus Wormius, a Danish anatomist.
Wormian bones, small irregular plates of bone often interposed in the sutures between the large cranial
bones.
Wormil
(Wor"mil) n. [Cf. 1st Warble.]
