vermin

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

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvɝmɪn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜːmɪn/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mɪn

vermin (countable and uncountable, plural vermin or vermins)

1. Any of various common types of small insects or animals which cause harm and annoyance. [from c. 1300]

   The area was plagued by all sorts of vermin: fleas, lice, mice, and rats to name a few.

   • 1903, Harry de Windt, “The Great Lena Post Road”, in From Paris to New York by Land, New York, N.Y.: Frederick Warne & Co. […], published 1904, →OCLC, part I (Europe and Asia), page 27:

     Vermin was everywhere; night and day it crawled gaily over the walls and ceiling, about our bodies, and into our very food, and, although the subject did not interest us, a naturalist would have delighted in the ever-changing varieties of insect life.

2. An animal that preys on game, such as a fox or a weasel.
3. An obnoxious or mean and offensive person. [from 1560s]

   Bring these vermin to the Palace of Justice.

• The singular form "a vermin" is now rarely encountered, and the word is generally used as a plural.

• verminicide
• verminer

• varmint

• Mervin