worm
    n 1: any of numerous relatively small elongated soft-bodied
         animals especially of the phyla Annelida and Chaetognatha
         and Nematoda and Nemertea and Platyhelminthes; also many
         insect larvae
    2: a person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving
       of respect [syn: worm, louse, insect, dirt ball]
    3: a software program capable of reproducing itself that can
       spread from one computer to the next over a network; "worms
       take advantage of automatic file sending and receiving
       features found on many computers"
    4: screw thread on a gear with the teeth of a worm wheel or rack
    v 1: to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when
         struggling); "The prisoner writhed in discomfort"; "The
         child tried to wriggle free from his aunt's embrace" [syn:
         writhe, wrestle, wriggle, worm, squirm, twist]

Screw \Screw\ (skr[udd]), n. [OE. scrue, OF. escroue, escroe,
   female screw, F. ['e]crou, L. scrobis a ditch, trench, in
   LL., the hole made by swine in rooting; cf. D. schroef a
   screw, G. schraube, Icel. skr[=u]fa.]
   1. A cylinder, or a cylindrical perforation, having a
      continuous rib, called the thread, winding round it
      spirally at a constant inclination, so as to leave a
      continuous spiral groove between one turn and the next, --
      used chiefly for producing, when revolved, motion or
      pressure in the direction of its axis, by the sliding of
      the threads of the cylinder in the grooves between the
      threads of the perforation adapted to it, the former being
      distinguished as the external, or male screw, or, more
      usually the screw; the latter as the internal, or female
      screw, or, more usually, the nut.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: The screw, as a mechanical power, is a modification of
         the inclined plane, and may be regarded as a
         right-angled triangle wrapped round a cylinder, the
         hypotenuse of the marking the spiral thread of the
         screw, its base equaling the circumference of the
         cylinder, and its height the pitch of the thread.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. Specifically, a kind of nail with a spiral thread and a
      head with a nick to receive the end of the screw-driver.
      Screws are much used to hold together pieces of wood or to
      fasten something; -- called also wood screws, and screw
      nails. See also Screw bolt, below.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Anything shaped or acting like a screw; esp., a form of
      wheel for propelling steam vessels. It is placed at the
      stern, and furnished with blades having helicoidal
      surfaces to act against the water in the manner of a
      screw. See Screw propeller, below.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A steam vesel propelled by a screw instead of wheels; a
      screw steamer; a propeller.
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   5. An extortioner; a sharp bargainer; a skinflint; a niggard.
      --Thackeray.
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   6. An instructor who examines with great or unnecessary
      severity; also, a searching or strict examination of a
      student by an instructor. [Cant, American Colleges]
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   7. A small packet of tobacco. [Slang] --Mayhew.
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   8. An unsound or worn-out horse, useful as a hack, and
      commonly of good appearance. --Ld. Lytton.
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   9. (Math.) A straight line in space with which a definite
      linear magnitude termed the pitch is associated (cf. 5th
      Pitch, 10
      (b) ). It is used to express the displacement of a rigid
          body, which may always be made to consist of a
          rotation about an axis combined with a translation
          parallel to that axis.
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   10. (Zool.) An amphipod crustacean; as, the skeleton screw
       (Caprella). See Sand screw, under Sand.
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   Archimedes screw, Compound screw, Foot screw, etc. See
      under Archimedes, Compound, Foot, etc.

   A screw loose, something out of order, so that work is not
      done smoothly; as, there is a screw loose somewhere. --H.
      Martineau.

   Endless screw, or perpetual screw, a screw used to give
      motion to a toothed wheel by the action of its threads
      between the teeth of the wheel; -- called also a worm.
      

   Lag screw. See under Lag.

   Micrometer screw, a screw with fine threads, used for the
      measurement of very small spaces.

   Right and left screw, a screw having threads upon the
      opposite ends which wind in opposite directions.

   Screw alley. See Shaft alley, under Shaft.

   Screw bean. (Bot.)
       (a) The curious spirally coiled pod of a leguminous tree
           (Prosopis pubescens) growing from Texas to
           California. It is used for fodder, and ground into
           meal by the Indians.
       (b) The tree itself. Its heavy hard wood is used for
           fuel, for fencing, and for railroad ties.

   Screw bolt, a bolt having a screw thread on its shank, in
      distinction from a key bolt. See 1st Bolt, 3.

   Screw box, a device, resembling a die, for cutting the
      thread on a wooden screw.

   Screw dock. See under Dock.

   Screw engine, a marine engine for driving a screw
      propeller.

   Screw gear. See Spiral gear, under Spiral.

   Screw jack. Same as Jackscrew.

   Screw key, a wrench for turning a screw or nut; a spanner
      wrench.

   Screw machine.
       (a) One of a series of machines employed in the
           manufacture of wood screws.
       (b) A machine tool resembling a lathe, having a number of
           cutting tools that can be caused to act on the work
           successively, for making screws and other turned
           pieces from metal rods.

   Screw pine (Bot.), any plant of the endogenous genus
      Pandanus, of which there are about fifty species,
      natives of tropical lands from Africa to Polynesia; --
      named from the spiral arrangement of the pineapple-like
      leaves.

   Screw plate, a device for cutting threads on small screws,
      consisting of a thin steel plate having a series of
      perforations with internal screws forming dies.

   Screw press, a press in which pressure is exerted by means
      of a screw.

   Screw propeller, a screw or spiral bladed wheel, used in
      the propulsion of steam vessels; also, a steam vessel
      propelled by a screw.

   Screw shell (Zool.), a long, slender, spiral gastropod
      shell, especially of the genus Turritella and allied
      genera. See Turritella.

   Screw steamer, a steamship propelled by a screw.

   Screw thread, the spiral rib which forms a screw.

   Screw stone (Paleon.), the fossil stem of an encrinite.

   Screw tree (Bot.), any plant of the genus Helicteres,
      consisting of about thirty species of tropical shrubs,
      with simple leaves and spirally twisted, five-celled
      capsules; -- also called twisted-horn, and twisty.

   Screw valve, a stop valve which is opened or closed by a
      screw.

   Screw worm (Zool.), the larva of an American fly
      (Compsomyia macellaria), allied to the blowflies, which
      sometimes deposits its eggs in the nostrils, or about
      wounds, in man and other animals, with fatal results.

   Screw wrench.
       (a) A wrench for turning a screw.
       (b) A wrench with an adjustable jaw that is moved by a
           screw.

   To put the screws on or To put the screw on, to use
      pressure upon, as for the purpose of extortion; to coerce.
      

   To put under the screw or To put under the screws, to
      subject to pressure; to force.

   Wood screw, a metal screw with a sharp thread of coarse
      pitch, adapted to holding fast in wood. See Illust. of
      Wood screw, under Wood.
      [1913 Webster]

Worm \Worm\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Wormed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Worming.]
   To work slowly, gradually, and secretly.
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         When debates and fretting jealousy
         Did worm and work within you more and more,
         Your color faded.                        --Herbert.
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Worm \Worm\ (w[^u]rm), n. [OE. worm, wurm, AS. wyrm; akin to D.
   worm, OS. & G. wurm, Icel. ormr, Sw. & Dan. orm, Goth.
   wa['u]rms, L. vermis, Gr. ? a wood worm. Cf. Vermicelli,
   Vermilion, Vermin.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a
      serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like. [Archaic]
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            There came a viper out of the heat, and leapt on his
            hand. When the men of the country saw the worm hang
            on his hand, they said, This man must needs be a
            murderer.                             --Tyndale
                                                  (Acts xxviii.
                                                  3, 4).
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            'T is slander,
            Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
            Outvenoms all the worms of Nile.      --Shak.
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            When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm,
            His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks.
                                                  --Longfellow.
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   2. Any small creeping animal or reptile, either entirely
      without feet, or with very short ones, including a great
      variety of animals; as, an earthworm; the blindworm.
      Specifically: (Zool.)
      (a) Any helminth; an entozoon.
      (b) Any annelid.
      (c) An insect larva.
      (d) pl. Same as Vermes.
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   3. An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts
      one's mind with remorse.
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            The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul!
                                                  --Shak.
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   4. A being debased and despised.
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            I am a worm, and no man.              --Ps. xxii. 6.
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   5. Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm; as:
      (a) The thread of a screw.
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                The threads of screws, when bigger than can be
                made in screw plates, are called worms. --Moxon.
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      (b) A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double
          corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.
      (c) (Anat.) A certain muscular band in the tongue of some
          animals, as the dog; the lytta. See Lytta.
      (d) The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound
          to economize space. See Illust. of Still.
      (e) (Mach.) A short revolving screw, the threads of which
          drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel by gearing into
          its teeth or cogs. See Illust. of Worm gearing,
          below.
          [1913 Webster]

   Worm abscess (Med.), an abscess produced by the irritation
      resulting from the lodgment of a worm in some part of the
      body.

   Worm fence. See under Fence.

   Worm gear. (Mach.)
      (a) A worm wheel.
      (b) Worm gearing.

   Worm gearing, gearing consisting of a worm and worm wheel
      working together.

   Worm grass. (Bot.)
      (a) See Pinkroot, 2
      (a) .
      (b) The white stonecrop (Sedum album) reputed to have
          qualities as a vermifuge. --Dr. Prior.

   Worm oil (Med.), an anthelmintic consisting of oil obtained
      from the seeds of Chenopodium anthelminticum.

   Worm powder (Med.), an anthelmintic powder.

   Worm snake. (Zool.) See Thunder snake
      (b), under Thunder.

   Worm tea (Med.), an anthelmintic tea or tisane.

   Worm tincture (Med.), a tincture prepared from dried
      earthworms, oil of tartar, spirit of wine, etc. [Obs.]

   Worm wheel, a cogwheel having teeth formed to fit into the
      spiral spaces of a screw called a worm, so that the wheel
      may be turned by, or may turn, the worm; -- called also
      worm gear, and sometimes tangent wheel. See Illust. of
      Worm gearing, above.
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Worm \Worm\, v. t.
   1. To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and
      secret means; -- often followed by out.
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            They find themselves wormed out of all power.
                                                  --Swift.
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            They . . . wormed things out of me that I had no
            desire to tell.                       --Dickens.
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   2. To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge
      from, as a firearm. See Worm, n. 5
      (b) .
          [1913 Webster]

   3. To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of, as a
      dog, for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw.
      The operation was formerly supposed to guard against
      canine madness.
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            The men assisted the laird in his sporting parties,
            wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier
            puppies.                              --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
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   4. (Naut.) To wind rope, yarn, or other material, spirally
      round, between the strands of, as a cable; to wind with
      spun yarn, as a small rope.
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            Ropes . . . are generally wormed before they are
            served.                               --Totten.
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   To worm one's self into, to enter into gradually by arts
      and insinuations; as, to worm one's self into favor.
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WORM
       Write Once Read Many (CD)
       

worm
 n.

    [from tapeworm in John Brunner's novel The Shockwave Rider, via XEROX PARC]
    A program that propagates itself over a network, reproducing itself as it
    goes. Compare virus. Nowadays the term has negative connotations, as it
    is assumed that only crackers write worms. Perhaps the best-known example
    was Robert T. Morris's Great Worm of 1988, a ?benign? one that got out of
    control and hogged hundreds of Suns and VAXen across the U.S. See also 
    cracker, RTM, Trojan horse, ice.

worm

    (From "Tapeworm" in John Brunner's
   novel "The Shockwave Rider", via XEROX PARC) A program that
   propagates itself over a network, reproducing itself as it
   goes.  Compare virus.  Nowadays the term has negative
   connotations, as it is assumed that only crackers write
   worms.

   Perhaps the best-known example was the Great Worm.

   Compare Trojan horse.

   [Jargon File]

   (1996-09-17)

Write-Once Read-Many
WORM

    (WORM) Any type of storage medium to which data can
   be written to only a single time, but can be read from any
   number of times.  Typically this is an optical disk whose
   surface is permanently etched using a laser in order to record
   information.  WORM media have a significantly longer shelf
   life than magnetic media and thus are used when data must be
   preserved for a long time.

   (1996-04-01)

Worm
   (1.) Heb. sas (Isa. 51:8), denotes the caterpillar of the
   clothes-moth.
   
     (2.) The manna bred worms (tola'im), but on the Sabbath there
   was not any worm (rimmah) therein (Ex. 16:20, 24). Here these
   words refer to caterpillars or larvae, which feed on corrupting
   matter.
   
     These two Hebrew words appear to be interchangeable (Job 25:6;
   Isa. 14:11). Tola'im in some places denotes the caterpillar
   (Deut. 28:39; Jonah 4:7), and rimmah, the larvae, as bred from
   putridity (Job 17:14; 21:26; 24:20). In Micah 7:17, where it is
   said, "They shall move out of their holes like worms," perhaps
   serpents or "creeping things," or as in the Revised Version,
   "crawling things," are meant.
   
     The word is used figuratively in Job 25:6; Ps. 22:6; Isa.
   41:14; Mark 9:44, 46, 48; Isa. 66:24.