worm
/wɝm/noun, verb
worm is spelled W-O-R-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, worm means “A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of worm is worms.
How many letters and syllables are in worm?
| Letters | 4: W-O-R-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.9 times per million words; the 10,028th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is worm?
Worm appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce worm?
- UK /wɜːm/
- US /wɝm/
Worm has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-worm.wav, En-us-worm.ogg, En-au-worm.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with worm
Sounds like: wyrm (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with worm?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as worm from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹm/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of worm
- worms plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- worming participle, present
- wormed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does worm mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.
- 2
More loosely, any of various tubular invertebrates resembling annelids but not closely related to them, such as velvet worms, acorn worms, flatworms, or roundworms. See Appendix:English worms.
- 3
archaicAny creeping or crawling animal, such as a snake (cf. “dragon”; blindworm, slowworm, “legless lizard”), snail, or caterpillar.
A forlyued cok leiþ eiren in his laste elde... and ȝif any venemous worme sittiþ on broode þerevppon in þe canyculer dayes, þerof is igendrid... a cocatrice.
- 4
archaicinformalA maggot or any other insect larva with similar shape and behavior.
Those little wriggling worms are the larvae of flies who laid eggs here.
- 5
archaicA dragon, today especially Germanic dragon, more often of the serpentine or wingless type, for example sea serpent, but also any kind of dragon.
a. 1398, John Trevisa, transl. Bartholomeus Anglicus as De Proprietatibus Rerum (MS BL Add. 27944), Vol. I, p. 628:
- 6
archaicEither a mythical "dragon" (especially wingless), a gigantic sea serpent, or a creature that resembles a Mongolian death worm.
- 7
A contemptible or devious being.
Don't try to run away, you little worm!
- 8
A self-replicating program that propagates through a network by copying itself, differing from a virus which seeks to propagate by inserting its code into other executable files.
When Trevor opened his email, a worm spread to 100 people in his address book.
verb
- 1
To make (one's way) with a crawling motion.
We wormed our way through the underbrush.
- 2
To move with one's body dragging the ground.
- 3
To work one's way by artful or devious means.
- 4
To work (one's way or oneself) (into) gradually or slowly; to insinuate.
He wormed his way into the organization.
- 5
To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means.
- 6
To drag out of, to get information that someone is reluctant or unwilling to give (through artful or devious means or by pleading or asking repeatedly).
- 7
To fill in the contlines of (a rope) before parcelling and serving.
Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.
- 8
To deworm (an animal).
noun
- 1
Initialism of write once, read many.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Worm in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ver , vermine, scarabée , vis sans fin , dragon , ramper |
| German | Wurm , elender Wurm , Gewinde , Lindwurm , einem alles aus der Nase ziehen, etwas aus der Nase ziehen |
| Portuguese | minhoca, verme , miserável, patife , worm , rastejar |
| Spanish | gusano, lombriz , alimaña, rata, cucaracha , desparasitar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does worm come from?
From Middle English werm, wirm, worm, worme, wrim, wurm, wyrm, wyrme, from Old English weorm, wurm, wyrm, from Proto-West Germanic *wurmi, from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz (“worm; snake”), from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis (“worm; larva”), possibly from *wer- (“to turn”). Doublet of vermin and wyrm, the latter of which is a fairly recent borrowing directly from the Old English. (computing): First computer usage by John Brunner in his 1975 book The Shockwave Rider.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).