Word.ws English Dictionary

inchworm

UK/ˈɪnt͡ʃ.wɜːm/US/ˈɪnt͡ʃ.wɚm/

inchworm noun: the larva of a moth of the family Geometridae.

inchworm: the larva of a moth of the family Geometridae
Image: Keith Edkins, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

inchworm (plural inchworms)

  1. The larva of a moth of the family Geometridae.

Verb

inchworm (third-person singular simple present inchworms, present participle inchworming, simple past and past participle inchwormed)

  1. (idiomatic, informal, intransitive) To move in a looping fashion, like an inchworm.
  2. (idiomatic, informal, intransitive) To crawl or creep slowly.

Synonyms of inchworm

Forms of inchworm

Noun
pluralinchworms
Verb
third-person singular presentinchworms
present participleinchworming
past participleinchwormed
pastinchwormed

Origin of inchworm

From inch + worm. So called because their gradual movement seems to be measuring the ground; compare measuring worm.

Questions about inchworm

What does inchworm mean?
Inchworm means the larva of a moth of the family Geometridae.
What part of speech is inchworm?
Inchworm can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce inchworm?
Inchworm is pronounced /ˈɪnt͡ʃ.wɜːm/ (UK).
What is the plural of inchworm?
The plural of inchworm is inchworms.

Words near inchworm in the dictionary

  1. Inchon
  2. inchtape
  3. inchtapes
  4. Inchture
  5. inchwide
  6. inchworm
  7. inchwormed
  8. inchworming
  9. inchworms
  10. INCI
  11. incicurable

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: inchworm (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “inchworm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inchworm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.