Clamworm

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A marine segmented worm with many bristles, often dug up and used as bait by anglers fishing along coastal shores
2. An ocean-dwelling bristle worm that burrows in sand or mud and is prized by fishermen as a bait source
3. A burrowing sea worm covered in fine bristles, commonly harvested from intertidal flats to serve as fishing bait

Etymology: A clamworm is a marine bristle worm, and the name is simply a compound of "clam" and "worm," because the animal is a common bait and a creature that lives in the sand and mud where clams are found. The word is best understood as a plain descriptive coinage: English speakers joined two everyday nouns to name a worm associated with clam beds. The spelling "clam worm" with a space is an alternative form of the same word, so the two are interchangeable.

Synonyms: ragworm, sandworm