vermin

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Small harmful animals or insects, such as rats, mice, or fleas, that are hard to control.

   The old barn was overrun with vermin.

2. 2
   noun

   A nasty, offensive person regarded with contempt.

   He called the swindlers vermin who preyed on the elderly.

From Middle English vermyn, vermyne, from Old French vermine, from Vulgar Latin *verminum (“vermin”), collective noun formed from Latin vermis (“worm”). Compare vermiculate and vermivorous. See also worm.

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