Dictionary

backworm en · NOUN

Etymology

From back + worm.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, uncountable) Synonym of filanders (“a disease of hawks”).
2. (countable, obsolete) The thread-like worm found in filanders.
   • [... T]his, if any, may probably destroy that obstinate Disease of the Filander or Backworm. 1964, Thomas Browne, “Of Hawks and Falconry, ancient and modern”, in Geoffrey Keynes, editor, The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, volume 3, London: Faber and Faber, page 62:
   • The backworm is rarely quite killed[…]. 1735, The Sportsmen's Dictionary, London: Printed for C. Hitch, at the Red Lion, and C. Davis, both in Pater-Noster-Row; and S. Austen, at the Angel and Bible in St. Paul's Church-Yard:
   • The Indian falcon is sick of the backworm August 1593, Walter Raleigh, letter:

Forms

Synonyms

filanders