shipworm

IPA: ʃˈɪpwɝm

Any of several wormlike marine molluscs (not true worms) of the family Teredinidae that bore through the wooden hulls of ships and other woody material immersed in salt water; specifically, the naval shipworm or turu (Teredo navalis), the type species of the genus Teredo.

Examples of "shipworm" in Sentences

An indeterminate species of marine teredinid shipworm.
The copper sheathing installed to prevent shipworm was imported from England.
Teredo navalis is the Latin name of one of the best known species of shipworm.
For both plants and the shipworm, they can take inert, non-active carbon and nitrogen in the air and create building blocks.
De la Roquette in the French translation gives _bruma_ the meaning of "shipworm," supposing it to be a variant form of _broma_.
He did, however, have a hand in another then-modern innovation: copper-hulled ships, which the Royal Navy first used in 1761 to guard against shipworm.
Thanks to Revere Copper, we were able to make the copper sheathing for the bottoms of our naval vessels that protected their wooden hulls from being devoured by shipworm.
A number of maritime treasures off Sweden's southern coast are under threat from the shipworm, which is gaining a foothold in the Baltic Sea due to climate change, according to researchers at the University of Gothenburg.