| • | A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like. |
| • | 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. |
| • | Any helminth; an entozoon. |
| • | Any annelid. |
| • | An insect larva. |
| • | Same as Vermes. |
| • | An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's mind with remorse. |
| • | A being debased and despised. |
| • | Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm |
| • | The thread of a screw. |
| • | A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms. |
| • | A certain muscular band in the tongue of some animals, as the dog; the lytta. See Lytta. |
| • | The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to economize space. See Illust. of Still. |
| • | 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. |
| • | To work slowly, gradually, and secretly. |
| • | To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; -- often followed by out. |
| • | To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm. See Worm, n. 5 (b). |
| • | 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. |
| • | 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. |
LA Times Crossword Answers