vermin
nounUK /ˈvɜːmɪn/ · US /ˈvɝmɪn/
Etymology From Middle English vermyn, vermyne, from Old French vermine, from Vulgar Latin *verminum (“vermin”), collective noun formed from Latin vermis (“worm”). Compare vermiculate and vermivorous. See also worm.
1
Any of various common types of small insects or other animals which cause harm and annoyance.
- The area was crawling with all sorts of vermin: fleas, lice, mice, and rats to name a few. Thus, we felt as if vermin were crawling over us.
- Vermin was everywhere; night and day it crawled gaily over the walls and ceiling, about our bodies, and into our very food, and, although the subject did not interest us, a naturalist would have delighted in the ever-changing varieties of insect life.1903, Harry de Windt, “The Great Lena Post Road”, in From Paris to New York by Land, New York, N.Y.: Frederick Warne & Co. […], published 1904, →OCLC, part I (Europe and Asia), page 27:
2
An animal that preys on game, such as a fox or a weasel.
3
An obnoxious or mean and offensive person.
- Bring these vermin to the Palace of Justice.
- Derived terms
- verminicide, verminer
- Related terms
- varmint