 3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
vermin
noun
1: an irritating or obnoxious person [syn: {varmint}]
2: any of various small animals or insects that are pests; e.g.
cockroaches or rats
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Vermin \Ver"min\, noun sing. & pl.; used chiefly as plural. [OE.
vermine, F. vermine, from L. vermis a worm; cf. LL. vermen a
worm, L. verminosus full of worms. See {Vermicular}, {Worm}.]
1. An animal, in general. [Obs.]
Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the
earth, and vermin, and worms, and fowls. --Acts x.
12. (Geneva
Bible).
This crocodile is a mischievous fourfooted beast, a
dangerous vermin, used to both elements. --Holland.
2. A noxious or mischievous animal; especially, noxious
little animals or insects, collectively, as squirrels,
rats, mice, flies, lice, bugs, etc. ''Cruel hounds or some
foul vermin.'' --Chaucer.
Great injuries these vermin, mice and rats, do in
the field. --Mortimer.
They disdain such vermin when the mighty boar of the
forest . . . is before them. --Burke.
3. Hence, in contempt, noxious human beings.
You are my prisoners, base vermin. --Hudibras.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
56 Moby Thesaurus words for "vermin":
amphibian, animal, aquatic, beast, biped, canine, cannibal,
carnivore, cattle, chaff, cosmopolite, cur, dog, dregs,
dregs of society, feline, gnawer, herbivore, hound, hyena, insect,
insectivore, invertebrate, mammal, mammalian, marsupial,
marsupialian, mongrel, offscourings, offscum, omnivore, pig,
polecat, primate, quadruped, raff, reptile, riffraff, rodent,
rubbish, ruminant, scavenger, scum, serpent, skunk, snake, sordes,
swine, swinish multitude, trash, ungulate, varmint, vertebrate,
viper, whelp, worm
|
