Noun
vermin (countable and uncountable, plural vermin or vermins)
- Any of various common types of small insects or other animals which cause harm and annoyance. [from c. 1300]
The area was plagued by all sorts of vermin: fleas, lice, mice, and rats to name a few.
1903, Harry de Windt, “The Great Lena Post Road”, in From Paris to New York by Land, New York, N.Y.: Frederick Warne & Co. […], published 1904, →OCLC, part I (Europe and Asia), page 27:Vermin was everywhere; night and day it crawled gaily over the walls and ceiling, about our bodies, and into our very food, and, although the subject did not interest us, a naturalist would have delighted in the ever-changing varieties of insect life.
- An animal that preys on game, such as a fox or a weasel.
- An obnoxious or mean and offensive person. [from 1560s]
Bring these vermin to the Palace of Justice.
Usage notes
- The singular form "a vermin" is now rarely encountered, and the word is generally used as a plural.
Translations
Any of various common types of small insects or animals which cause harm and annoyance
- Arabic: خَشَاش m (ḵašāš)
- Bashkir: ҡоротҡос (qorotqos)
- Bulgarian: вреди́тел (bg) (vredítel), гадина (bg) f (gadina)
- Catalan: menjança (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 害蟲/害虫 (zh) (hàichóng), 寄生蟲/寄生虫 (zh) (jìshēngchóng)
- Czech: havěť (cs) f, škodná f
- Danish: skadedyr (da) n
- Dutch: ongedierte (nl) n
- Esperanto: fiinsekto, bestetaĉoj
- Finnish: tuhoeläin (fi), tuholainen (fi), syöpäläinen (fi)
- French: vermine (fr) f
- Georgian: მავნებელი (mavnebeli), პარაზიტი (ṗaraziṭi)
- German: Ungeziefer (de) n, Schädlinge (de) pl, Gewürm (de) n
- Hebrew: שֶׁרֶץ (he) m (shéretz)
- Hungarian: kártevő (hu), élősdi (hu), féreg (hu)
- Irish: míolra m
- Italian: parassita (it) m
- Japanese: 害虫 (ja) (がいちゅう, gaichū), 害獣 (ja) (がいじゅう, gaijū)
- Korean: 해충 (ko) (haechung)
- Macedonian: штеточина f (štetočina)
- Middle English: vermyn
- Persian: حشره موذی (hašare-ye muzi) (insects only), جک و جانور (jak-o-jânevar) (informal)
- Polish: robactwo (pl) n
- Portuguese: vermina (pt) f
- Russian: вреди́тель (ru) m (vredítelʹ), парази́т (ru) m (parazít), гад (ru) m (gad)
- Slovak: háveď f
- Spanish: alimaña (es) f, sabandija (es) f
- Swedish: skadedjur (sv) n, ohyra (sv) c
- Vilamovian: wiym n
- Volapük: minimil (vo), (collective singular) minimilem (vo), (animal) dämabanim, (insect) dämabanäsäk
- Welsh: pryf (cy) m, pryfed (cy) pl
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An obnoxious, or mean and offensive person
Translations to be checked