Meanings
adjectivevermigrade (not comparable)
- not comparablewriggling like a worm
My working hunch was that the very young leopard frog tadpole would make a near-perfect donor. […] While he’s little, he’ll mimp-mouth algae from the flanks of a tubifex and harm nothing but a little vermigrade pride.
1973, Barry N. Schwartz, Human Connection and the New Media, page 170
Origin
Coined by Irish writer Samuel Beckett. From vermi- + -grade (“way of walking”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
vermigrade. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vermigrade
MLA
“vermigrade.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vermigrade. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vermigrade,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vermigrade.
Source: vermigrade on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.