tapeworm

[ teyp-wurm ]

noun

1. any of various flat or tapelike worms of the class Cestoidea, lacking an alimentary canal, and parasitic when adult in the alimentary canal of humans and other vertebrates: the larval and adult stages are usually in different hosts.

tapeworm

/ ˈteɪpˌwɜːm /

noun

1. any parasitic ribbon-like flatworm of the class Cestoda, having a body divided into many egg-producing segments and lacking a mouth and gut. The adults inhabit the intestines of vertebrates See also echinococcus taenia

tapeworm

/ tāp′wûrm′ /

1. See cestode

tapeworm

1. A worm with a long, flat body that can live in the human intestines as a parasite . Infestation with a tapeworm usually occurs as the result of eating raw meat or fish that contains the immature form of the worm.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tapeworm¹

First recorded in 1745–55; tape + worm

Example Sentences

"Health-care costs in this country are a tapeworm of American business," he continued.

From The Daily Beast

(a) Flatworms are sometimes parasitic, examples being the tapeworm and liver fluke.

From Project Gutenberg

Such is seen in the life history of the liver fluke, a flatworm which kills sheep, and in the tapeworm.

From Project Gutenberg

If man eats raw or undercooked pork containing these worms, he may become a host for the tapeworm.

From Project Gutenberg

Another common tapeworm parasitic on man lives part of its life as an embryo within the muscles of cattle.

From Project Gutenberg

Strobila, stro-bī′la, n. a discomedusan at the stage succeeding the scyphistoma: a segmented tapeworm.

From Project Gutenberg