hairworm

[hair-wurm]

noun

1. any small, slender worm of the family Trichostrongylidae, parasitic in the alimentary canals of various animals.

hairworm

/ ˈhɛəˌwɜːm /

noun

1. any hairlike nematode worm of the family Trichostrongylidae, such as the stomach worm, parasitic in the intestines of vertebrates

2. Also called: horsehair worm. any very thin long worm of the phylum (or class) Nematomorpha, the larvae of which are parasitic in arthropods

Word History and Origins

Origin of hairworm¹

First recorded in 1650–60; hair + worm

Example Sentences

"The many cases of horizontal gene transfer that we have found in the hairworm can be a good model for study," Mishina says.

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They found over 3,000 hairworm genes that were expressed more when hosts were being manipulated, and 1,500 hairworm genes that were expressed less.

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Hairworm parasitoids that make grasshoppers jump into water and drown.

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One particularly intriguing example of parasitic manipulation occurs when a hairworm infects a grasshopper and seizes its brain in order to survive and self-replicate.

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One example of the complex role parasites can play is a hairworm that lives in grasshoppers in Japan and tends to lead its host to jump into water, where the grasshoppers become a major food source for rare fish.

Read more on The Guardian