noun, plural ver·min.
- noxious, objectionable, or disgusting animals collectively, especially those of small size that appear commonly and are difficult to control, as flies, lice, bedbugs, cockroaches, mice, and rats.
- an objectionable or obnoxious person, or such persons collectively.
- animals that prey upon game, as coyotes or weasels.
noun
- (functioning as plural) small animals collectively, esp insects and rodents, that are troublesome to man, domestic animals, etc
- plural -min an unpleasant, obnoxious, or dangerous person
c.1300, “noxious animals,” from Anglo-French and Old French vermin, from Vulgar Latin *verminum “vermin,” possibly including bothersome insects, collective noun formed from Latin vermis “worm” (see worm). Extended to “low, obnoxious people” by 1560s.
n. pl. vermin
- Any of various small animals or insects, such as rats or cockroaches, that are destructive, annoying, or injurious to health.