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A ball or skein of thread; a cocoon. [Obs.] Silkworms finish their bottoms in . . . fifteen days. Mortimer.

A weevil; a worm that breeds in malt, biscuit, etc. [Obs.] Tusser., n. Etym: [F., fr. bouder to pout, be sulky.]

Same as Branlin, fish and worm.

A small red worm or larva, used as bait for small fresh-water fish; -- so called from its red color.

s, so as to clear them of the brine which collects at the bottom. -- Brine shrimp, Brine worm (Zoöl.), a phyllopod crustacean of the genus Artemia, inhabiting the strong brines of salt works and natural salt lakes. See Artemia. -- Brine spring, a spring of salt water. -- Leach brine (Saltmaking), brine which drops f…

which, in the larval state, devours the leaves of the cabbage and the turnip. See Cabbage worm, below. -- Cabbage Fly (Zoöl.), a small two-winged fly (Anthomyia brassicæ), which feeds, in the larval or maggot state, on the roots of the cabbage, often doing much damage to the crop. -- Cabbage head, the compact head fo…

A small line made of spun yarn, to bind or worm cables, seize tackles, etc.

ls, gravel, bits of wood, etc. They are a favorite bait with anglers. Called also caddice worm, or caddis worm. Caddice fly (Zoöl.), a species of trichopterous insect, whose larva is the caddice.

One who consumes candles by being up late for study or dissipation. A bookworm, a candlewaster. B. Jonson.

ted; as, the skin of an insect, the refuse from a hawk's stomach, the excrement of a earthworm.

and succulent vegetables, being often very destructive, Many of them are popularly called worms, as the cutworm, cankerworm, army worm, cotton worm, silkworm.

Containing a body cavity; as, the cavitary or nematoid worms.

The larval form of a trematode worm having the shape of a tadpole, with its body terminated by a tail-like appendage.

A class of parasitic worms (Platelminthes) of which the tapeworms are the most common examples. The body is flattened, and usually but not always long, and composed of numerous joints or segments, each of which may contain a complete set of male and female reproductive organs. They have neither mouth nor intestine. See…

An order of free-swimming marine worms, of which the genus Sagitta is the type. They have groups of curved spines on each side of the head.

the segments. They are divided into two principal groups: Oligochæta, including the earthworms and allied forms, and Polychæta, including most of the marine species.

chain; a bond; as, the chains of habit. Driven down To chains of darkness and the undying worm. Milton.

en substance, supposed to be the cause of the green color of the blood in some species of worms. Ray Lankester.

The clitellus of earthworms.

The external male organ of trematodes and some other worms, and of certain Mollusca.