inch·worm

(ĭnch′wûrm′)

A caterpillar of a geometrid moth that moves by looping the body in alternate contractions and expansions. Also called looper, measuring worm, spanworm.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

inchworm

(ˈɪntʃˌwɜːm)

(Animals) another name for a measuring worm

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

meas′ur•ing•worm`

or meas′uring worm`,

a geometrid moth larva that progresses by bringing the rear end of the body forward and then advancing the front end.

Also called inchworm.

[1835–45]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

inchworm - small hairless caterpillar having legs on only its front and rear segments; mostly larvae of moths of the family Geometridae

looper, measuring worm

caterpillar - a wormlike and often brightly colored and hairy or spiny larva of a butterfly or moth

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References in periodicals archive

To make a handle, students roll out a coil about 6 inches long, bend it into a curve, then bend out the ends to make it look like an inchworm. The wet toothbrush is then used to score/slip the handle over the 6 o'clock position.

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Speed is distance divided by time, whether one is measuring a bullet, an inchworm, or the growth of a teenager.

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Created by researchers at the University of Houston in Texas, the slinky machine is made of ultra-thin sensors, actuating electronics and temperature-sensitive artificial muscle that can adapt to the environment and crawl, similar to the movement of an inchworm or caterpillar.

SLINKY CATERPILLAR-INSPIRED BOT COULD LEAD EARTHQUAKE RESCUE MISSIONS

Together, they rode an inchworm train back up the mountain.

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Ken Hewitt-White, a contributing editor for Sky & Telescope, fittingly thinks this asterism "suggests a caterpillar humped-up in mid crawl." Ken is probably referring to the caterpillars commonly called inchworms, since most other caterpillars don't have the inchworm's looping gait.

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The Trinity program consists of 3 independent software modules: Inchworm, Chrysalis, and Butterfly, which were applied sequentially to process large volumes of RNA-seq reads.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of three Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae) organs to identify functional genes in the male accessory glands and ejaculatory duct

Nike also asked that we add 30 inchworm to push-ups to our workout.

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Therefore, an Inchworm Boring Robot was proposed for China's lunar robotic subsurface exploration mission [15].

Drilling Load Model of an Inchworm Boring Robot for Lunar Subsurface Exploration

Recently, AIC is used to control the position of piezoelectric inchworm actuator [21] and the acceleration of six-degree-of-freedom electrohydraulic shaking table [22].

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Meanwhile, inchworm piezoelectric actuator is the special friction type piezoelectric motor.

Numerical Analysis on Chaotic Vibration of Drive System for a Movable Tooth Piezoelectric Motor