earthworm
pronunciation
How to pronounce earthworm in British English:
UK [ˈɜ:θwɜ:m]
How to pronounce earthworm in American English:
US [ˈɜrθwɜrm]
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- Noun:
- terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil; often surfaces when the ground is cool or wet; used as bait by anglers
Word Origin
- earthworm (n.)
- c. 1400, erþe-worme, from earth + worm (n.). In this sense Old English had eorðmata, also regnwyrm, literally "rain-worm." Old English also had angel-twæcce "earthworm used as bait" (with second element from root of twitch), sometimes used in medieval times as a medicament: For the blake Jawndes take angylltwacches, er þei go in to the erth in the mornynge and fry hem. Take ix or x small angyltwacches, and bray hem, and giff the syke to drynke fastynge, with stale ale, but loke þat thei bene grounden so small that þe syke may nat se, ne witt what it is, for lothynge. [Book of Medical Recipes in Medical Society of London Library, c. 1450]
Example
- 1. Ladybugs , spiders , grasshoppers , earthworm or whatever kind of bug you happen upon when you 've got your camera out and ready .
- 2. The finless eel ate the earthworm in front in one bite .
- 3. The earthworm is good for our crops .
- 4. The technique of breeding earthworm with buckwheat husks was first reported .
- 5. The axolotl 's teeth come into their own when trying to grip something slippery like an earthworm .