inchworm
1
5.3
- noun
- /ˈɪnʧˌwɜrm/
- I doubt if people nowadays have knowledge of a victory garden or have seen an inchworm.
Examples
-
She started sliding on her butt through the thick weeds toward the water, moving up and down with her knees, like an inchworm or something.
Fiction book (2001) -
So Billy does this very simple sort of inchworm motion.
-
We got our own inchworm over here named Miles.
-
This was repeated inchworm fashion as many times as necessary to reach the final elevation.
Academic text (2003) -
The main culprits were inchworms, moth larvae that feed on the underside of ant-free leaves, where they make a characteristic scraping pattern.
Academic text (1993) -
The small green inchworm moved slowly along the branch, measuring out an inch at a time.
-
We watched the inchworm loop its body as it crawled across the leaves in the garden.
-
Children love to observe the little inchworm as it inches along the garden path.
Synonyms
54
1.0
A soft young insect like a worm that becomes a butterfly or moth and eats leaves
1
8.8
A small caterpillar with legs only at the front and back that moves by making a loop
1
9.9
A green caterpillar that eats the leaves of fruit and shade trees
1
8.1
A small caterpillar with legs only near its head and tail that moves by making a loop
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Inchworm comes from the simple parts inch and worm, because people thought the little caterpillar moved in short loops that looked like it was measuring out an 'inch' at a time. That's why an inchworm is a small caterpillar that seems to 'measure' the ground as it moves.