Vermifuge
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A drug that causes the expulsion or death of intestinal worms, such as tapeworms. dated
"1867, Advertisement, The Prairie Farmer, Volume 20, New Series, page 264, We have been informed that the usual practice of Merchants, Farmers and Planters, in ordering their supplies of Dr. McLane's Celebrated VERMIFUGE, has been to simply write and order Vermifuge. The consequence is that instead of the genuine Dr. McLanes's Vermifuge, they very frequently get one or other of the many worthless preparations called Vermifuge now before the public."
- 2 a medication capable of causing the evacuation of parasitic intestinal worms wordnet
- 1 Acting as a drug to cause the expulsion or death of intestinal worms. dated
Example
More examples"1867, Advertisement, The Prairie Farmer, Volume 20, New Series, page 264, We have been informed that the usual practice of Merchants, Farmers and Planters, in ordering their supplies of Dr. McLane's Celebrated VERMIFUGE, has been to simply write and order Vermifuge. The consequence is that instead of the genuine Dr. McLanes's Vermifuge, they very frequently get one or other of the many worthless preparations called Vermifuge now before the public."
Etymology
Attested since about 1720, from Latin vermis (“worm”) + fugāre (“to cause to flee”). Compare -fuge.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.