woodworm

[wood-wurm]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

woodworm

/ ˈ��ʊ��ˌ��ɜː�� /

any of various insect larvae that bore into wooden furniture, beams, etc, esp the larvae of the furniture beetle, Anobium punctatum, and the deathwatch beetle
the condition caused in wood by any of these larvae

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First recorded in 1530–40; wood ¹ + worm

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Examples have not been reviewed.

Similarly, some items in his collection became contaminated with mildew, woodworm or worse — asbestos, mercury and radioactivity.

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They get elected and then, like woodworms, burrow into legal institutions and eat them away from within.

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She checks paintings and wooden frames for warping, flaking paint and the first signs of woodworms.

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But he exhorted the cardinals, known as the “princes of the church,” to be on guard against the “cancer, the woodworm, of worldly spirituality.”

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But he exhorted the cardinals, who known as “princes of the church,” to be on guard against the “cancer, the woodworm of worldly spirituality.”

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