inchworm

[ inch-wurm ]

noun
  1. a caterpillar that moves along by bringing the rear end of its body forward and then advancing the front end, a motion known as looping; the larva of any geometrid moth. : See also looper (def. 2).

Origin of inchworm

1
First recorded in 1860–65; inch1 + worm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use inchworm in a sentence

  • Most of them humped along like inchworms, carrying chunks of new playground apparatus in coils of their long bodies.

    Makers | Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for inchworm

inchworm

/ (ˈɪntʃˌwɜːm) /


noun
  1. another name for a measuring worm

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012