Word Study
teredo
CIDE DICTIONARY
teredo, n. [L., a worm that gnaws wood, clothes, etc.; akin to Gr. , L. terere to rub.].
A genus of long, slender, wormlike bivalve mollusks which bore into submerged wood, such as the piles of wharves, bottoms of ships, etc.; -- called also shipworm . See Shipworm. See Illust. in Appendix. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
teredo, n. (pl. -os) any bivalve mollusc of the genus Teredo, esp. T. navalis, that bores into wooden ships etc. Also called SHIPWORM.
Etymology
L f. Gk teredon f. teiro rub hard, wear away, bore
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