noun
maggot
MA-guht
noun
1
The soft, legless larva of a fly, often found in decaying matter.
"Anglers keep a tub of maggots as fishing bait."
"The rubbish had been left out so long that maggots had gotten into it."
How to Use Maggot
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA fly larva, commonly seen in rotting food or used as fishing bait.
Common pairings
a tub of maggots
crawling with maggots
Word Forms
maggoted past tense, maggots singular
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Etymology
From Middle English magot, probably an altered form of an Old English word related to insect larvae; the old folk belief that whimsical or eccentric people had "maggots in the brain" gave rise to a now-obsolete figurative sense.