1. (Zoöl.) Any botfly larva which burrows in or beneath the skin of domestic and wild animals, thus producing
sores. They belong to various species of Hypoderma and allied genera. Domestic cattle are often infested
by a large species. See Gadfly. Called also warble, and worble. [Written also wormal, wormul, and
wornil.]
2. (Far.) See 1st Warble, 1 (b).
Wormling
(Worm"ling) n. A little worm.
O dusty wormling! dost thou strive and stand
With heaven's high monarch?
Sylvester. Wormseed
(Worm"seed`) n. (Bot.) Any one of several plants, as Artemisia santonica, and Chenopodium
anthelminticum, whose seeds have the property of expelling worms from the stomach and intestines.
Wormseed mustard, a slender, cruciferous plant (Erysinum cheiranthoides) having small lanceolate
leaves.
Worm-shaped
(Worm"-shaped`) a. Shaped like a worm; hick and almost cylindrical, but variously curved
or bent; as, a worm-shaped root.
Worm-shell
(Worm"-shell`) n. (Zoöl.) Any species of Vermetus.
Wormul
(Wor"mul) n. (Zoöl.) See Wornil.
Wormwood
(Worm"wood) n. [AS. wermd, akin to OHG. wermuota, wormuota, G. wermuth, wermut; of
uncertain origin.]
1. (Bot.) A composite plant (Artemisia Absinthium), having a bitter and slightly aromatic taste, formerly
used as a tonic and a vermifuge, and to protect woolen garments from moths. It gives the peculiar flavor
to the cordial called absinthe. The volatile oil is a narcotic poison. The term is often extended to other
species of the same genus.
2. Anything very bitter or grievous; bitterness.
Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood.
Deut. xxix. 18. Roman wormwood (Bot.), an American weed (Ambrosia artemisiæfolia); hogweed. — Tree wormwood
(Bot.), a species of Artemisia (probably Artemisia variabilis) with woody stems. — Wormwood hare
(Zoöl.), a variety of the common hare (Lepus timidus); — so named from its color.
Wormy
(Worm"y) a. [Compar. Wormier ; superl. Wormiest.]
1. Containing a worm; abounding with worms. "Wormy beds." Shak.
2. Like or pertaining to a worm; earthy; groveling.
Worn
(Worn) p. p. of Wear.
Worn land, land that has become exhausted by tillage, or which for any reason has lost its fertility.
Wornil
(Wor"nil) n. (Zoöl.) See Wormil.
Worn-out
(Worn"-out`) a. Consumed, or rendered useless, by wearing; as, worn-out garments.
Worral
(Wor"ral Wor"rel) n. (Zoöl.) An Egyptian fork-tongued lizard, about four feet long when full grown.
Worrier
(Wor"ri*er) n. One who worries.
