いもむし

Japanese

For pronunciation and definitions of いもむし – see the following entry.

【芋虫】

[noun] [from 1603] a hairless caterpillar

[noun] [from 1690] (figurative) an angry person (from the way that a person may puff up when angry and go red and swollen in the face, similar to the defense behaviors of some caterpillars)

[noun] [from 1749] (figurative, derogatory) a dummy; a term used to ridicule a person

[noun] [from 1830s] a children's song and game, played by everyone squatting and holding onto the waist or shoulders of the person in front, and the whole group trying to move like a caterpillar

[noun] a kind of traditional toy made to look and move like a caterpillar

Alternative spelling
イモムシ

(This term, いもむし, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)