nematode

[nem-uh-tohd]

noun

any unsegmented worm of the phylum Nematoda, having an elongated, cylindrical body; a roundworm.

adjective

pertaining to the Nematoda.

Origin of nematode

First recorded in 1860–65; nemat- + -ode¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for nematode

Historical Examples of nematode

A recharacterization of the nematode genus Blatticola Schwenk, 1926.
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Louis M. Roth
On a new species of nematode, Gongylonema orientale, found in Formosa.
The Biotic Associations of Cockroaches
Louis M. Roth
The Trichina is a nematode worm, and not an insect, as it was at first called.
Animal Parasites and Messmates
P. J. Van Beneden
Heterodera Schachtii is the name given to a nematode which Mons.
Animal Parasites and Messmates
P. J. Van Beneden
I have also two species of nematode from Macropus giganteus.
Parasites
T. Spencer Cobbold

British Dictionary definitions for nematode

nematode

noun

any unsegmented worm of the phylum (or class) Nematoda, having a tough outer cuticle. The group includes free-living forms and disease-causing parasites, such as the hookworm and filariaAlso called: nematode worm, roundworm

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nematode

1865, from Modern Latin Nematoda, the class or phylum name.

nematode in Medicine

nematode

[nĕm′ə-tōd′]

A parasitic worm of the class Nematoda.roundworm

nematode in Science

nematode

[nĕm′ə-tōd′]

Any of several slender, cylindrical worms of the group Nematoda, which some scientists consider to be a class of the aschelminths and others to be a separate phylum. Most nematodes are tiny and live in enormous numbers in water, soil, plants, and animals. They have a simple structure, with a long hollow gut separated from the body wall by a fluid-filled space. Several nematodes, such as pinworm, roundworm, filaria, and hookworm, are parasites on animals and humans and cause disease. One species, Caenorhabditis elegans (usually called C. elegans), was one of the first animals to have its entire genome sequenced and is important in biological research as a model organism.