worm-eaten

[ wurm-eet-n ]

/ ˈwɜrmˌit n /

eaten into or gnawed by worms.

impaired by time, decayed or antiquated.

Origin of worm-eaten

1350–1400; Middle English wormeten; see worm, eat, -en³

un·worm-eat·en, adjective

Did anything matter, when a few years would see the flesh he had thought divine corrupt and worm-eaten?

The Hero |William Somerset Maugham
She even preferred that studio with its worn-out divans and its worm-eaten tapestries that were slowly shredding away.

His Excellency the Minister |Jules Claretie
With trembling hands he picked up a worm-eaten stick beside the stove.

Jim Spurling, Fisherman |Albert Walter Tolman
On April 4, 1581, she suggested to Drake that she would be his guest at a banquet on board the little, worm-eaten ship.

Days of the Discoverers |L. Lamprey

They were beginning to mean something to him, and he saw that the bank was a worm-eaten shell.

A Certain Rich Man |William Allen White

worm-eaten

eaten into by worms a worm-eaten table

decayed; rotten

old-fashioned; antiquated