maltworm means A tippler; a drinker of alcohol. It carries an Arena rating of 1605, earned across 14 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, maltworm ranks #920 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #1,251 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,717 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,851 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
Why “maltworm” is a great word
A person given to the habitual and excessive consumption of malt liquor. From malt (germinated barley used in brewing) + worm (creature), figuratively meaning 'one who consumes malt', it was first attested c. 1550. Unlike 'tippler', a milder, general term for a habitual drinker, or 'souse', which suggests a sodden and disreputable state of intoxication, 'maltworm' is an archaic, whimsical portrait of the act itself. It is the patron hunched in the perpetual twilight of a tavern, the hand that knows the weight of a tankard better than a tool, the creature whose native habitat is the yeasty, warm scent of the brewery—a being so thoroughly defined by its consumption that it has become, in name and nature, a part of the thing it devours.
Etymology
From malt + worm.
noun
- A tippler; a drinker of alcohol.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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