worm

v. creep, crawl (like a worm); squeeze cunningly; sneak (in or out); kill intestinal parasites

n. type of legless invertebrate; servile person, "weasel"; screwing; computer virus which usually copies itself through a network and wastes resources or causes damage (Computers)

(Computers) any type of storage medium that can only be written to once but can be read an unlimited number of times (such as a CD-ROM)

A worm is an elongated, fat, soft-bodied invertebrate (an animal that lacks a backbone). Some species of worms are so different from- even unrelated to- each other that they have not been classified under a single group.
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Write Once, Read Many (alternatively Write One, Read Multiple or Write Once, Read Mostly or WORM) refers to a kind of computer storage media that can be written to once, but read from multiple times.There are two types of WORM storage media: those that physically can be written only once (examples of such storage media are CD-R and DVD-R, or electronic circuits such as PROMs) and media that enables WORM capability by using electronic keys or other measures to prevent rewriting. The reasoning behind this artificial hampering of technical capability in the latter case can be found in regulatory authorities requiring certain data archival standards where information has to be reliably kept and made available over a long period of time (an example would be the Securities Exchange Commission).
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n. worm, earthworm, apple grub

(n.)
A being debased and despised.
  

(n.)
A certain muscular band in the tongue of some animals, as the dog; the lytta. See Lytta.
  

(n.)
A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like.
  

(n.)
A short revolving screw, the threads of which drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel by gearing into its teeth or cogs. See Illust. of Worm gearing, below.
  

(n.)
A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.
  

(n.)
An insect larva.
  

(n.)
An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's mind with remorse.
  

(n.)
Any annelid.
  

(n.)
Any helminth; an entozoon.
  

(n.)
Any small creeping animal or reptile, either entirely without feet, or with very short ones, including a great variety of animals; as, an earthworm; the blindworm.
  

(n.)
Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm
  

(n.)
Same as Vermes.
  

(n.)
The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to economize space. See Illust. of Still.
  

(n.)
The thread of a screw.
  

(n.)
To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of, as a dog, for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw. The operation was formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.
  

(n.)
To wind rope, yarn, or other material, spirally round, between the strands of, as a cable; to wind with spun yarn, as a small rope.
  

(v. i.)
To work slowly, gradually, and secretly.
  

(v. t.)
To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm. See Worm, n. 5 (b).
  

(v. t.)
To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; -- often followed by out.
  

Write-Once Read-Many

<networking, security> (From "Tapeworm" in John Brunner's novel "The Shockwave Rider", via XEROX PARC) A program that propagates itself over a network, reproducing itself as it goes. Compare virus. Nowadays the term has negative connotations, as it is assumed that only crackers write worms.
Perhaps the best-known example was the Great Worm.
Compare Trojan horse.
[Jargon File]
(1996-09-17)