worming

verb

present participle of worm
1
as in encroaching
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits neighborhoods worming into lands reserved for wildlife

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in sneaking
to introduce in a gradual, secret, or clever way over a period of several years, the undercover agent was able to worm his way into the drug kingpin's confidence

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in creeping
to move slowly with the body close to the ground the cat silently wormed along the ground as it snuck up on the bird

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of worming After a series of personal setbacks, Ingrid moves to Los Angeles to be closer to Taylor, masterminding their meeting and worming her way into her inner circle. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 15 July 2026 The best success comes using it in jungle-thick cover, worming a minnow down between uncooperative branches. — John Phillips, Outdoor Life, 14 May 2026 In terms of the complex set design — which looks like a facsimile of the same passage over and over but with subtle differences worming their way in — Kawamura and his team built two identical corridors for cinematographer Keisuke Imamura to follow the actors through, third- and first-person-style. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 15 Apr. 2026 Clara ends up moving to the small town and worming her way into everyone’s hearts. — Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025 Traitors is worming its way in there. — Mckinley Franklin, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for worming
  1. encroaching
  2. sneaking
  3. creeping
  4. infiltrating
  5. crawling
  6. inserting
  7. snaking
  8. slipping
Verb
  • Without more straightforward approaches from vendors, such as easily comprehensible privacy policies and avoiding inappropriate ads, monitors are dangerously encroaching into smart-TV-like territory.
    — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Hundreds of researchers at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory have observed changes including fewer bees and other pollinators, and sagebrush encroaching in valleys once dominated by wildflowers.
    — Brittany Peterson, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of encroaching
Verb
  • Police are investigating a rash of incidents involving people sneaking out of sewers.
    — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Pinch-hitter Eli White followed by sneaking a soft line drive up the middle to drive in Durbin, cutting the Giants’ lead to 2-1.
    — Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of sneaking
Verb
  • Audiences embraced the films for their creeping realism and slow-building scares, which transformed ordinary bedrooms, hallways and home security cameras into places where something terrifying might be lurking just outside the frame.
    — Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026
  • That has sent oil prices creeping higher for weeks, edging closer to $100 a barrel.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of creeping
Verb
  • Meghan expressed concern that school pickups and dropoffs would lead to a swarm of paparazzi infiltrating the moment.
    — Sameen Chaudhry, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Dozens of pages of documents describe agents secretly infiltrating meetings, monitoring activist chat groups and using license plate numbers to compile names of people who attended gatherings.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of infiltrating
Verb
  • One of the groups was seen leaving about three hours afterward, according to the NYPD, while the second odd circumstance ended after individuals were seen crawling out and leaving in a vehicle more than two and a half hours after.
    — Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Nidhi imagined the baby crawling around in her mother’s body, desperately seeking the uterus, and, failing to find it in its proper place, quietly shrivelling up and dying.
    — Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawling
Verb
  • And there are trade-offs to inserting more distance between yourself and your phone as well.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Bad Bunny has rarely shied away from inserting himself into politics and current events either, so the moment stood out.
    — Juan J. Arroyo, Rolling Stone, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of inserting
Verb
  • The Premier League trophy was kept out of the way, not shown off, apart from the blazing cover picture in the souvenir programme which ensured queues snaking through the crowd to purchase this special memento.
    — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2026
  • When her foster mom is preparing dinner, Lu sneakily samples from her siblings’ meals, snaking her tongue into each bowl.
    — Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of snaking
Verb
  • The body of a woman who rescued a child struggling in the Delaware River in New Jersey before slipping underwater herself has been recovered following an hourslong search, police said.
    — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Reduce wear time by wearing commuter shoes and slipping into heels once at your destination.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of slipping

Browse Nearby Words

wormholes
worming
worms
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Cite this Entry

“Worming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/worming. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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