Nearby Words
noun, plural ver·min.
1.
noxious, objectionable, or disgusting animals collectively, especially those of small size that appear commonly and are difficult to control, as flies, lice, bedbugs, cockroaches, mice, and rats.
2.
an objectionable or obnoxious person, or such persons collectively.
3.
animals that prey upon game, as coyotes or weasels.
Origin:
1300–50; Middle English vermyne < Anglo-French, Middle French vermin, vermine < Vulgar Latin *verminum, *vermina, based on Latin vermin-; see verminate
1300–50; Middle English vermyne < Anglo-French, Middle French vermin, vermine < Vulgar Latin *verminum, *vermina, based on Latin vermin-; see verminate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Vermin
is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Example Sentences
- Ranchers consider them vermin because they sometimes prey on livestock, especially sheep.
- They're barely allowed to do anything so grotesque as turn into bats or command vermin or whatever.
- For years, they were considered vermin in their own land, hunted almost to extinction.
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
vermin
c.1300, "noxious animals," from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. vermin, from V.L. *verminum "vermin," possibly including bothersome insects, collective noun formed from L. vermis "worm" (see worm). Extended to "low, obnoxious people" by 1562.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
vermin ver·min (vûr'mĭn)
n. pl. vermin
Any of various small animals or insects, such as rats or cockroaches, that are destructive, annoying, or injurious to health.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
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