muckworms

/ˈmʌkˌwɜːrmz/
noun
  1. People who are greedy for money or who behave in a dishonest or selfish way, especially in business or politics.
    • Some investors see the stock market as a place for muckworms to take advantage of others.
    • The old story tells of a king who surrounded himself with muckworms who stole from the treasury.
    • The newspaper article accused the city councilors of being muckworms who only cared about their own profits.
  2. Worms or larvae that live in mud or manure, often used as fishing bait.
    • He dug up some muckworms from the compost heap to use for fishing.
    • The farmer turned over the manure pile and found hundreds of muckworms helping to break it down.
    • After the rain, the garden was full of muckworms wriggling in the wet soil.