What does "angleworm" mean?

An earthworm, used as or destined to be used as bait to catch fish.

What is a synonym for "angleworm"?

Common synonyms include: crawler, dew worm, earthworm, earthworm, fishing worm, fishworm.

Pronounced //ˈæŋ.ɡəlˌwɜɹm//.

//ˈæŋ.ɡəlˌwɜɹm// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
An earthworm, used as or destined to be used as bait to catch fish. Northern-US
"A bird came down the walk : / He did not know I saw ; / He bit an angle-worm in halves / And ate the fellow, raw."
2
terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil; often surfaces when the ground is cool or wet; used as bait by anglers wordnet

"A bird came down the walk : / He did not know I saw ; / He bit an angle-worm in halves / And ate the fellow, raw."

From angle + worm.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.