teredo

n.; pl. E. Teredos L. Teredines [ L., a worm that gnaws wood, clothes, etc.; akin to Gr. &unr_;, L. terere to rub. ] (Zool.) A genus of long, slender, wormlike bivalve mollusks which bore into submerged wood, such as the piles of wharves, bottoms of ships, etc.; -- called also shipworm. See Shipworm. See Illust. in Appendix. [ 1913 Webster ]