tapeworm

[ teyp-wurm ]

/ ˈteɪpˌwɜrm /

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noun

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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Origin of tapeworm

First recorded in 1745–55; tape + worm

Words nearby tapeworm

tapestried, tapestry, tapestry moth, tape transport, tapetum, tapeworm, taphephobia, Taphiae, taphole, taphonomy, taphouse

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tapeworm in a sentence

"Health-care costs in this country are a tapeworm of American business," he continued.
Warren Buffett Slams Debt Ceiling Drama as "Damn Dumb"|CNBC|September 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
(a) Flatworms are sometimes parasitic, examples being the tapeworm and liver fluke.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
Such is seen in the life history of the liver fluke, a flatworm which kills sheep, and in the tapeworm.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
If man eats raw or undercooked pork containing these worms, he may become a host for the tapeworm.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter

Another common tapeworm parasitic on man lives part of its life as an embryo within the muscles of cattle.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
Strobila, stro-bī′la, n. a discomedusan at the stage succeeding the scyphistoma: a segmented tapeworm.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various

British Dictionary definitions for tapeworm

tapeworm

/ (ˈteɪpˌwɜːm) /

noun

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 vertebratesSee also echinococcus, taenia

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

Scientific definitions for tapeworm

tapeworm

[ tāp′wûrm′ ]

See cestode.

Cultural definitions for tapeworm

tapeworm

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.