Trichinae

3 definitions found

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

  Trichina \Tri*chi"na\ (-n[.a]), n.; pl. {Trichinae}. [NL., fr.
     Gr. ? hairy, made of hair, fr. tri`x, tricho`s, hair.]
     (Zool.)
     A small, slender nematoid worm ({Trichina spiralis}) which,
     in the larval state, is parasitic, often in immense numbers,
     in the voluntary muscles of man, the hog, and many other


     animals. When insufficiently cooked meat containing the
     larvae is swallowed by man, they are liberated and rapidly
     become adult, pair, and the ovoviviparous females produce in
     a short time large numbers of young which find their way into
     the muscles, either directly, or indirectly by means of the
     blood. Their presence in the muscles and the intestines in
     large numbers produces trichinosis.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  trichina
       n : parasitic nematode occurring in the intestines of pigs and
           rats and human beings and producing larvae that form
           cysts in skeletal muscles [syn: {Trichinella spiralis}]
       [also: {trichinae} (pl)]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  trichinae
       See {trichina}