- 1[countable] a long, thin creature with no bones or legs, that lives in soil birds looking for worms see earthworm, lugworm
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- 2worms [plural] long, thin creatures that live inside the bodies of humans or animals and can cause illness The dog has worms. see hookworm, tapeworm
- 3[countable] the young form of an insect when it looks like a short worm This apple is full of worms. see glowworm, silkworm, woodworm
- 4[countable] (computing) a computer program that is a type of virus and that spreads across a network by copying itself
- 5[countable, usually singular] (informal) (disapproving) a person you do not like or respect, especially because they have a weak character and do not behave well toward other people Idioms
if you open up a can of worms, you start doing something that will cause a lot of problems and be very difficult
a person who takes the opportunity to do something before other people will have an advantage over them
a person who is normally quiet and does not complain will protest when the situation becomes too hard to bear
Check pronunciation: worm