Worm vs Leech - What's the difference?
worm | leech |
A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=7 A contemptible or devious being.
* Bible, Psalms xxii. 6
(computing) A self-replicating program that propagates through a network.
(cricket) A graphical representation of the total runs scored in an innings.
Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.
* Moxon
# A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.
# (anatomy) A muscular band in the tongue of some animals, such as dogs; the lytta.
# The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to save space.
# A short revolving screw whose threads drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel or rack by gearing into its teeth.
(archaic) A dragon or mythological serpent.
(obsolete) Any creeping or crawling animal, such as a snake, snail, or caterpillar.
* Tyndale (Acts xxviii. 3, 4)
* Shakespeare
* Longfellow
An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's mind with remorse.
(math) A strip of linked tiles sharing parallel edges in a tiling.
(label) To make (one's way) with a crawling motion.
:
To work one's way by artful or devious means.
*(George Herbert) (1593-1633)
*:When debates and fretting jealousy / Did worm and work within you more and more, / Your colour faded.
To work (one's way or oneself) (into) gradually or slowly; to insinuate.
:
To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; often followed by out .
*(Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)
*:They find themselves wormed out of all power.
To "worm out of", to "drag out of" (often: "drag every word out of someone"), to get information that someone is reluctant or unwilling to give (through artful or devious means or by pleading or asking repeatedly). Often combined with expressions such as "It's like pulling teeth" or "It's like getting blood out of a stone".
*(Charles Dickens) (1812-1870)
*:Theywormed things out of me that I had no desire to tell.
*
*:He nodded. "Mum's the word, Mrs. Bunting! It'll all be in the last editions of the evening newspapers—it can't be kep' out. There'd be too much of a row if twas!" ¶ "Are you going off to that public-house now?" she asked. ¶ "I've got a awk'ard job—to try and worm something out of the barmaid."
To fill in the contlines of a rope before parcelling and serving.
:
*1841 ,
*:Ropesare generally wormed before they are served.
(label) To deworm an animal.
(label) To move with one's body dragging the ground.
*1919 , , How animals talk: and other pleasant studies of birds and beast?
*:Inch by inch I wormed along the secret passageway, flat to the ground, not once raising my head, hardly daring to pull a full breath.
(label) To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of (a dog, etc.) for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw, and formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.
*Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
*:The men assisted the laird in his sporting parties, wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies.
(label) To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm.
An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially .
* 2003 , William W. Johnstone, The Last Of The Dog Team , page 195
A person who derives profit from others, in a parasitic fashion.
* 2000 , Ray Garmon, The Man Who Just Didn't Care , page 20
* 2006 , D. L. Harman, A State of Nine One One , page 106
(medicine, dated) A glass tube designed for drawing blood from a scarified part by means of a vacuum.
To apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.
* 2003 , George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords
To drain (resources) without giving back.
* 1992', ''AfricAsia'' ' 2 (1): 12
(archaic) A physician.
* 1663 , (Hudibras) , by Samuel Butler, part 1,
* 1992 , Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety , Harper Perennial 2007, p. 11:
(paganism, Heathenry) A healer.
* 1900 , Augustus Henry Keane, Man, Past and Present , The University Press (Cambridge)
* 1996', Swain Wodening, “Scandinavian Craft Lesson 6: Runic Divination”, ''Theod Magazine'' ' 3 (4)
* 2003 , Brian Froud and Ari Berk, The Runes of Elfland , Pavillion Books, ISBN 1 86205 647 1, page 22
* 2004 , Runic John, The Book of Seithr , Capall Bann Publishing, ISBN 186163 299 0, page 282
(medicine) A glass tube adapted for drawing blood from a scarified part by means of a vacuum.
(nautical) The vertical edge of a square sail.
* 1984 , Sven Donaldson, A Sailor's Guide to Sails , page 130
(nautical) The aft edge of a triangular sail.
* 2004 , Gary Jobson, Gary Jobson's Championship Sailing , page 176
As nouns the difference between worm and leech
is that worm is while leech is an aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class hirudinea, especially or leech can be (archaic) a physician or leech can be (nautical) the vertical edge of a square sail.As a verb leech is
to apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.worm
English
Noun
(en noun)citation, passage=‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’}}
- I am a worm , and no man.
- The threads of screws, when bigger than can be made in screw plates, are called worms .
- 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.
- 'Tis slander, / Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue / Outvenoms all the worms of Nile.
- When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm , / His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks.
- — Richard III ,
Verb
(en verb)Benjamin J. Totten], [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=w0VJAAAAYAAJ Naval Text-Book:
Derived terms
* blindworm * bollworm * bookworm * cutworm * the early bird catches the worm * earthworm * fishing worm * flatworm * glowworm * hornworm * lugworm * penis worm * ringworm * silkworm * slowworm * tapeworm * woodworm * the worm has turned * wormhole * worm lizard * worm’s-eye view]], [[worm's eye view, worm’s eye view * wormwood * wormySee also
* caterpillar * grub * lumbricine * maggot * Trojan horse * vermian * vermiform * virusReferences
* [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/worm] The Free Dictionary , Farlex Inc., 2010. ----leech
English
(wikipedia leech)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (Dutch laak).Noun
(es)- The leech on his leg had swelled to more than five inches long, puffed and swollen on his blood.
- 'Wrecked his body and his mind, no use to hisself or his family or nobody, just a leech on society'.
- At this point, I felt this man was a leech . I suspected that he had spent a lifetime living off the good will of women that he met.
Synonyms
* (person who lives as a parasite) parasite, sponger, bloodsucker, vampireDerived terms
* leechlikeVerb
(es)- The poppy made him sleep and while he slept they leeched him to drain off the bad blood.
- Bert leeched hundreds of files from the BBS, but never uploaded anything in return.
- Guinea is also blocking Strasser's efforts to stop illegal fishing in Sierra Leone's territorial waters and the smuggling of gold and diamonds, which leech hundreds of millions of dollars from the country's economy.
Usage notes
Do not confuse this verb with the verb leach.Synonyms
* (to drain resources) drainDerived terms
* leecherEtymology 2
From (etyl) .Noun
(es)- Thus virtuous Orsin was endued / With learning, conduct, fortitude / Incomparable; and as the prince / Of poets, Homer, sung long since, / A skilful leech is better far, / Than half a hundred men of war [...]
- He coughed sputum stained with blood, and a scraping, crackling noise came from his chest, quite audible to anyone in the room. ‘Lungs possibly not too good,’ the leech said.
- Their functions are threefold, those of the medicine-man (the leech , or healer by supernatural means); of the soothsayer (the prophet through communion with the invisible world); and of the priest, especially in his capacity as exorcist
- In ancient times runesters were a specialized class separate from that of the witch or ordinary spell caster (much as the other specialists such as the leech or healer and the seithkona were different from a witch), and even today many believe it takes years of training to become adept at using the runes in spell work.
- "Leech? " "Not another doctor".
- There are many kinds of "Leech " or "healer" as there are healing techniques, some are more powerful than others and some are very specific to certain illnesses and complaints; some use potions and unguents, others crystals and stones, others galdr and some work their healing from within the hidden realms themselves.
Synonyms
* (physician) barber, doctor, physician * (healer in Heathenry) healerDerived terms
* leechcraftEtymology 3
(etyl) lek, leche, lyche, from (etyl) ).Noun
(es)- To help combat these problems, almost all sailmakers trim the leeches' of their headsails to a hollow or concave profile and enclose a LEECHLINE within the ' leech tabling.
- Trim the leech of the jib parallel to the main by watching the slot between the mainsail and the jib.