glowworm

noun

Etymology

From Middle English glouworm; equivalent to glow + worm. Compare cognate German Glühwurm; compare also firefly, lightning bug, and lanternfly.

  1. inherited from glouworm

Definitions

  1. The larva or wingless grub-like female of a beetle from the families Phengodidae or…

    The larva or wingless grub-like female of a beetle from the families Phengodidae or Lampyridae that gives out a green light from its abdomen.

    • The glowworm shows the matin to be near And ’gins to pale his uneffectual fire. Adieu, adieu, adieu! Remember me.
    • 1604, William Alexander, The Alexandraean Tragedie, Act V, Scene 2, in The Monarchicke Tragedies, London: Ed. Blount, 1607, Some things afarre doe like the Glow-worme shine, That lookt to neere haue of that light no signe.
    • Glories (like glowe-wormes) a farre off, shine bright, But look’d to neere, haue neither heate, nor light.
  2. A carnivorous gnat larva in the keroplatid genus Arachnocampa that spins threads to…

    A carnivorous gnat larva in the keroplatid genus Arachnocampa that spins threads to capture insects attracted by its glow.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for glowworm. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA