worming

present participle of worm
1
as in encroaching
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits neighborhoods worming into lands reserved for wildlife

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Relevance
2
as in sneaking
to introduce in a gradual, secret, or clever way over a period of several years, the undercover agent was able to worm his way into the drug kingpin's confidence

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3
as in creeping
to move slowly with the body close to the ground the cat silently wormed along the ground as it snuck up on the bird

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of worming After a series of personal setbacks, Ingrid moves to Los Angeles to be closer to Taylor, masterminding their meeting and worming her way into her inner circle. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 15 July 2026 The best success comes using it in jungle-thick cover, worming a minnow down between uncooperative branches. — John Phillips, Outdoor Life, 14 May 2026 In terms of the complex set design — which looks like a facsimile of the same passage over and over but with subtle differences worming their way in — Kawamura and his team built two identical corridors for cinematographer Keisuke Imamura to follow the actors through, third- and first-person-style. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 15 Apr. 2026 Clara ends up moving to the small town and worming her way into everyone’s hearts. — Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025 Traitors is worming its way in there. — Mckinley Franklin, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for worming
Verb
  • Meanwhile over 100 Palestinian communities have been displaced or erased by the settler violence and the ever-encroaching sheep.
    — Lesley Stahl, CBS News, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Against encroaching social upheavals, the sovereign was resolutely the center of a mercantilist universe.
    — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Kids made good accomplices, tasked with sneaking off on a hunt for the bill.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
  • At 15, Mariana de Miguel was already sneaking into Mexico City’s nightlife with a fake ID, saving money to see the bands that shaped her imagination.
    — Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 9 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Finally, while work is underway to build a formal framework for economic espionage, Congress must prevent any creeping erosion of the existing norm through the potentially corrupt dissemination of intelligence to favored companies.
    — DAVID S. COHEN, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Yep, there are more and more signs creeping in by the election cycle.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • The show revolved around Crockett and Tubbs, two undercover detectives infiltrating South Florida’s criminal underworld.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Plus, even if a company isn’t intentionally using your data to train their models, one of their many agents could always go rogue, infiltrating company data and hoovering up individual users’ conversations with their chatbots.
    — Peter Hall, Scientific American, 13 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • At the hospital, an insect fell from the girl’s shoe, and a staffer saw a cockroach crawling on her, the district attorney’s office said.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Of course, an extra three-quarters of an inch clearance and some elastic straps do not transform a unibody, front-biased crossover into an invincible rock-crawling monster.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 9 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Delta Force snipers Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart both earned the Medal of Honor for inserting into Mike Durant's crash site and fighting to the bitter and bloody end.
    — David Hookstead OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The resolution does not specify a schedule for inserting discrete one-hour corrections.
    — Vahe Peroomian, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • To judge from the lines of young, very devoted fans snaking around the cemetery, Geese has already built the requisite subculture to thrive longer-term.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The intricate, snaking sculpture is comprised of 537 individual elements suspended from the rafters.
    — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Its model has Nvidia’s share of the other hyperscalers’ spending slipping from 18% in 2026 to 16% in 2027.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2026
  • In the meantime, the strangers who are slipping into her home through the box have become her part-time companions, starting with Jason and Amanda and continuing with others like Leighton and Blair.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Worming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/worming. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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