MEASURING WORM • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Measuring worm

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/mˈɛʒərɪŋ wərm/ Listen

adjective

Measuring adj. Used in, or adapted for, ascertaining measurements, or dividing by measure.

Measuring faucet, a faucet which permits only a given quantity of liquid to pass each time it is opened, or one by means of which the liquid which passes can be measured.

Measuring worm (Zool.), the larva of any geometrid moth. They are so called because they move by a process in which they first pull the rear legs forward toward their front legs, forming a loop which resembles the process of measuring with a tape measure. The motion is completed by subsequently moving the front legs forward to an advanced position. See Geometrid.

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Etymology of 'Measuring worm'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Measuring worm" Quotes from Famous Books

... changes, no more desirable than the foregoing, which have been caused by the introduction of the house-sparrow. The only positive benefit which occurs to me is that the measuring worm, which formerly infested all our vegetation, is now very nearly extinct through the instrumentality of the sparrows. A pair of these, during the breeding-season, ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882 • Various