a. A small bright-red earth-worm used by anglers. b. The scarlet larva of a genus of crane-flies (Chironomus) found in rain-water cisterns and pools.
1741. Compl. Fam.-Piece, II. ii. 350. They will bite freely at the small Red-worm called the Blood-worm.
1799. G. Smith, Laboratory, II. 280. In the winterseason, the fittest baits for the New River are bloodworms.
1833. J. Rennie, Angling, 37. I mean here water blood-worms, and not the smaller bright red earth-worms sometimes so named in books on angling.
1840. Browning, Sordello, II. 289. Circling blood-worms, minnow, newt, or loach.
