Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Motion resembling that of a worm, especially the wavelike contractions of the intestine; peristalsis.
- noun Wavy or sinuous marks or ornamentation, as in a mosaic, masonry, or the plumage of a bird.
- noun The condition of being worm-eaten.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A color-marking of fine, wavy lines: a term frequently used in describing the plumage of birds.
- noun The action or movement of a worm; hence, a continuous or progressive motion along the bowels, which is strikingly like the action of successive joints of a worm in crawling; peristaltic action.
- noun Formation of worm-like figures or tracery; vermicular ornamentation, whether of form or of color; a set or system of vermiculate lines. See cuts under
rustic and vermicular. - noun The act or art of producing vermiculated ornament.
- noun Worminess; the state of being wormy or worm-eaten, literally or figuratively.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act or operation of moving in the manner of a worm; continuation of motion from one part to another.
- noun The act of vermiculating, or forming or inlaying so as to resemble the motion, track, or work of a worm.
- noun Penetration by worms; the state of being wormeaten.
- noun (Zoöl.) A very fine wavy crosswise color marking, or a patch of such markings, as on the feathers of birds.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A pattern of irregular wavy lines.
- noun medicine, dated
Peristalsis .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the process of wavelike muscle contractions of the alimentary tract that moves food along
- noun a decoration consisting of wormlike carvings
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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I love the moth names and I love The Birds of the Western Palearctic for “vermiculation”—a word I have only encountered in these and other similar pages of defeat.
A Year on the Wing TIM DEE 2009
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Plates of Sevres trellissed by the delicate vermiculation of their white fluting, ver-ticillated in gold or bound upon the creamy plane of their pâte tendre by the gay relief of a golden ribbon, finally a whole service of silver on which are displayed those Lucinian myrtles which Dubarry would recognise.
Time Regained 2003
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Me reading had twisted his universe all out of shape and now he was going to conspire in this perverted vermiculation.
Water Sleeps Cook, Glen 1999
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"No, no," contended Susanna, arresting her sunshade in the midst of an intricate vermiculation.
The Lady Paramount Henry Harland 1883
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It is not, though this be _exitus à morte_: it is _introitus in mortem_; though it be an issue from manifold deaths of this world, yet it is an entrance into the death of corruption and putrefaction, and vermiculation, and incineration, and dispersion in and from the grave, in which every dead man dies over again.
Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions Together with Death's Duel John Donne 1601
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Forehead, crown, and nape finely vermiculated pale cream or greyish-white and grey, feathers on central forehead, crown, and nape with black pointed shaft-streaks up to 3–4mm wide, shaft streaks narrower towards side of crown and faint or absent on lores or above eye; shaft-streaks on central crown bordered by cinnamon-buff and grey vermiculation; top of head appears buff-brown with bold black streaks on centre, almost uniform pale grey-buff or pale grey on line from lores over eye.
A Year on the Wing TIM DEE 2009
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Francis’ mark produces a sort of vermiculation with which he composes a surface, piece by piece.
Accumulation 2009
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Francis’ mark produces a sort of vermiculation with which he composes a surface, piece by piece.
Accumulation 2009
bilby commented on the word vermiculation
Last definition appeals to me. "My what wondrous vermiculations you have!"
September 30, 2008