From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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.
[1913 Webster]
5. An extortioner; a sharp bargainer; a skinflint; a niggard.
--Thackeray.
[1913 Webster]
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]
[1913 Webster]
7. A small packet of tobacco. [Slang] --Mayhew.
[1913 Webster]
8. An unsound or worn-out horse, useful as a hack, and
commonly of good appearance. --Ld. Lytton.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
10. (Zool.) An amphipod crustacean; as, the skeleton screw
({Caprella}). See {Sand screw}, under {Sand}.
[1913 Webster]
{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]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Worm \Worm\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Wormed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Worming}.]
To work slowly, gradually, and secretly.
[1913 Webster]
When debates and fretting jealousy
Did worm and work within you more and more,
Your color faded. --Herbert.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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]
[1913 Webster]
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).
[1913 Webster]
'T is slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm,
His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks.
--Longfellow.
[1913 Webster]
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}.
[1913 Webster]
3. An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts
one's mind with remorse.
[1913 Webster]
The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul!
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
4. A being debased and despised.
[1913 Webster]
I am a worm, and no man. --Ps. xxii. 6.
[1913 Webster]
5. Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm; as:
(a) The thread of a screw.
[1913 Webster]
The threads of screws, when bigger than can be
made in screw plates, are called worms. --Moxon.
[1913 Webster]
(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.
[1913 Webster]
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Worm \Worm\, v. t.
1. To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and
secret means; -- often followed by out.
[1913 Webster]
They find themselves wormed out of all power.
--Swift.
[1913 Webster]
They . . . wormed things out of me that I had no
desire to tell. --Dickens.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
The men assisted the laird in his sporting parties,
wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier
puppies. --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Ropes . . . are generally wormed before they are
served. --Totten.
[1913 Webster]
[1913 Webster]
{To worm one's self into}, to enter into gradually by arts
and insinuations; as, to worm one's self into favor.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
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}]
From The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003) [jargon]:
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 {cracker}s 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}.
From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2013) [vera]:
WORM
Write Once Read Many (CD)
From Dutch-English Freedict Dictionary ver. 0.1.3 [fd-nld-eng]:
worm /wɔrm/
1. earthworm
2. worm
|
