Tapeworm

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Tapeworm \Tape"worm`\, n. (Zool.)
     Any one of numerous species of cestode worms belonging to
     Taenia and many allied genera. The body is long, flat, and
     composed of numerous segments or proglottids varying in
     shape, those toward the end of the body being much larger and
     longer than the anterior ones, and containing the fully


     developed sexual organs. The head is small, destitute of a
     mouth, but furnished with two or more suckers (which vary
     greatly in shape in different genera), and sometimes, also,
     with hooks for adhesion to the walls of the intestines of the
     animals in which they are parasitic. The larvae (see
     {Cysticercus}) live in the flesh of various creatures, and
     when swallowed by another animal of the right species develop
     into the mature tapeworm in its intestine. See Illustration
     in Appendix.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Three species are common parasites of man: the {pork
           tapeworm} ({Taenia solium}), the larva of which is
           found in pork; the {beef tapeworm} ({Taenia
           mediocanellata}), the larva of which lives in the flesh
           of young cattle; and the {broad tapeworm}
           ({Bothriocephalus latus}) which is found chiefly in the
           inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Europe and
           Asia. See also {Echinococcus}, {Cysticercus},
           {Proglottis}, and 2d {Measles}, 4.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  tapeworm
       n : ribbon-like flatworms that are parasitic in the intestines
           of humans and other vertebrates [syn: {cestode}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  34 Moby Thesaurus words for "tapeworm":
     Chilopoda, Chordata, Echiuroidea, Ectoprocta, Entoprocta,
     Monoplacophora, Nemertinea, Phoronidea, angleworm, appetite,
     canine appetite, drought, dryness, earthworm, emptiness,
     empty stomach, fishworm, helminth, hollow hunger, hunger,
     hungriness, inchworm, measuring worm, night crawler, nightwalker,
     polydipsia, relish, stomach, sweet tooth, taste, thirst,
     thirstiness, torment of Tantalus, worm