maggot
n. countablen. a worm-like creature that is the baby stage of a fly. It is often found in rotting food or dead animals.
n. the larval stage of a fly, typically appearing as a white, legless worm. Often associated with decomposition or forensic science.
A maggot was crawling through the old fruit.
The forensic team used the presence of a maggot to estimate the time of death at the crime scene.
While the sight of a maggot in decaying matter is often considered gross, these larvae play a vital role in the ecosystem by breaking down organic waste and returning nutrients to the soil.
From Middle English magot, magat, maked, probably a metathetic alteration of maddock, maðek (“worm", "maggot”), originally a diminutive form of a base represented by Old English maþa (Scots mathe), from Proto-West Germanic maþō, from Proto-Germanic maþô, from the Proto-Indo-European root *mat, which was used in insect names, equivalent to made + -ock. Near-cognates include Dutch made, German Made and Swedish mask, Icelandic maðkur (“worm, grub, maggot”). The use of maggot to mean a fanciful or whimsical thing derives from the folk belief that a whimsical or crotchety person had maggots in their brain.