even a worm will turn

proverb

Even the meekest or most docile people will retaliate or seek revenge if pushed too far.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. Even the meekest or most docile people will retaliate or seek revenge if pushed too far.

    The ſmalleſt Worme will turne, being troden on, / And Doues will pecke in ſafegard of their Brood.

    The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on, and doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.

    c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 154, column 1

Origin

First attested in a collection of proverbs by John Heywood in 1546, in the form “Treade a worme on the tayle, and it must turne agayne.” Popularized by William Shakespeare in The Third Part of Henry the Sixth, see quotations.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

even a worm will turn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/even%20a%20worm%20will%20turn

MLA

“even a worm will turn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/even%20a%20worm%20will%20turn. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “even a worm will turn,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/even%20a%20worm%20will%20turn.

Source: even a worm will turn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.