maggot

47 4.6

A soft white baby insect that lives in rotting food or dead animals

noun
/ˈmæɡət/

: gusano

I found a few maggots in the compost pile, indicating that the food scraps were decaying.
maggots in meat
maggots in wounds
maggots hatch

I've jumped in huge garbage bins with maggots for food.

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Examples

After creeping forward about twelve inches, the maggots turned into dark blotches and vanished.

Fiction book (1998)
The tissue penicillin was not invented yet and until it became widespread, maggots were cutting edge medical treatment.

The Great War
At the bottom of the cheese, a small, fat, white maggot crawled slowly over a blue vein.

Fiction book (1999)
For, in the few pieces of only half-cooked meat on his plate, there were maggots.

Academic text (2017)
So I sprayed some alcohol into it and then maggots just start crawling out of it.

Rich Roll
The tiny, wriggling maggots that later hatch spoil what would otherwise be a delectable crop.

Academic text (2001)
The abandoned house was infested with maggots, swarming over the leftover food.
When the farmer inspected the spoiled fruit, he discovered maggots crawling inside.

Synonyms

apple maggot

vsmaggot

Specialized

1 7.2

A small white worm that bores into apples and eats the inside

is found in decaying organic matter rather than living inside fruit

Idioms

to call someone a maggot

Offensive

1 9.9

Insult someone by saying 'maggot' to show they are worthless or lazy

Compounds

apple maggot

Specialized

1 7.2

A small white worm that bores into apples and eats the inside

maggot cheese

1 9.9

A cheese that contains live maggots and people eat as a special food

Surface Forms

maggot singular

maggots plural

Etymology

Maggot comes from an old word that meant a 'little worm', a tiny creature found in decaying things. That's why today a maggot is the soft, white larva you often see in rotting food or rubbish.