Meaning of worm in the apple | Babel Free

Definitions

A serious flaw in something otherwise good; a problem that ruins everything else.

Examples

“The worms in the apple, of course, are Baby Boom liberals who latched on to the one institution they could control—the university.”

“In this witty satire Cheever, acting as both narrator and observer, seeks to find the Crutchman's fatal flaw, the “worm in the apple” that will bring them down to the level of everyone else.”

“The villain of this piece—the worm in the apple of Revolutionary antislavery—was white racism.”

CEFR level