Wormers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person or device that eliminates worms from organisms, particularly in animal health contexts
2. A treatment meant to eradicate parasitic worms from living beings, often used in veterinary medicine
3. An agent specifically designed to expel internal parasites in animals, enhancing their health and quality of life

Etymology: "Wormers" is the plural of "wormer," a noun for a medicine that expels intestinal worms from animals, especially pets. The word is built from "worm" with the suffix "-er," which here forms a noun meaning something that performs the action, so a wormer is a thing that worms (in the sense of ridding an animal of worms). The same pattern gives other agent nouns such as "cutter" or "sprayer." The base word "worm" is very old in English, coming from Old English "wyrm," which covered any snake, dragon or small crawling creature. Its narrower sense of a parasitic intestinal worm developed later, so the medicine is named for the parasite rather than for the wriggling creature in a garden bed.