A corrupt pronunciation of the word vermin. Applied to noxious wild beasts of any kind.
I shot tolerably well, and was satisfied the fault would be mine if the varmints did not suffer.--Crockett, Tour, p. 125.
The idea of a man's keeping two varmints in a grass, when he might shoot a dozen by going a little way into the woods. These varmints were two beautiful deer.--Thorpe's Backwoods, p. 156.