Word.ws English Dictionary

even a worm will turn

even a worm will turn proverb: even the meekest or most docile people will retaliate or seek revenge if pushed too far.

Proverb

even a worm will turn

  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.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...

Origin of even a worm will turn

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.

Questions about even a worm will turn

What does even a worm will turn mean?
Even a worm will turn means even the meekest or most docile people will retaliate or seek revenge if pushed too far.
What part of speech is even a worm will turn?
Even a worm will turn is a proverb.

Words near even a worm will turn in the dictionary

  1. even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while
  2. even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then
  3. even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while
  4. even a broken clock is right twice a day
  5. even a stopped clock is right twice a day
  6. even a worm will turn
  7. even as
  8. even as we speak
  9. even chance
  10. even chances
  11. even christian

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: even a worm will turn (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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