bookworm

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See also: book worm

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From book +‎ worm.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈbʊk.wɜːm/
  • (file)

Noun[edit]

bookworm (plural bookworms)

  1. Any of various insects that infest books.
  2. (figurative) An avid book reader.
    Synonyms: bibliophage, bibliophile, bibliovore, book lover, librophile, librovore
    Hyponyms: helluo librorum, bibliomane, bibliomaniac
    • 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Earth's Holocaust”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:
      “This,” remarked the sedate observer beside me, “is a bookworm,—one of those men who are born to gnaw dead thoughts. His clothes, you see, are covered with the dust of libraries.

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]