tapeworm

American  

[teyp-wurm] / ˈteɪpˌwɜrm /

noun

• tapeworms
  plural

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.

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tapeworm British  

/ 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

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tapeworm Scientific  

/ tāp′wûrm′ /

1. See cestode

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tapeworm Cultural  

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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tapeworms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tapeworm

First recorded in 1745–55; tape + worm

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tapeworm tapeworms

Lowri made the decision to avoid meat for the trip, hoping it would help her to avoid food poisoning, but Dr Healy believes she inadvertently ate pork that contained microscopic tapeworm eggs.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

But then Lowri's mother asked if her seizure could be linked to the tapeworm she had discovered a year earlier.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

A dangerous tapeworm that has been spreading across North America has now been detected in the Pacific Northwest, according to new research.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026

The tapeworm diet was, of course, gross, but it would have felt a bit unrealized if she just took it and became skinny.

From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025

If the tapeworm attaches to the right place in the gut, it can leech vitamin B12 from the victim, instigating a lethal form of anemia.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Coyotes and other canids serve as the primary hosts for adult tapeworms.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026

But young girls are eating it up — hopefully not the tapeworms — and that for me is a dream come true.

From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025

Mosley has often pushed his body to extreme lengths to see the effects of his diets and also lived with tapeworms in his guts for six weeks for the BBC documentary “Infested! Living With Parasites.”

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 2024

If the cysts find a home in the small intestine, they can develop into adult tapeworms in about two months’ time.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2024

He covered everything from toothpaste to tapeworms and somehow made it all fit together.

From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli