trematode

American  

[trem-uh-tohd, tree-muh-] / ˈtrɛm əˌtoʊd, ˈtri mə- /

noun

1. any parasitic platyhelminth or flatworm of the class Trematoda, having one or more external suckers; fluke.

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trematode British  

/ ˈtriː-, ˈtrɛməˌtəʊd /

noun

1. any parasitic flatworm of the class Trematoda , which includes the flukes

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trematode Scientific  

/ trĕm′ə-tōd′ /

1. Any of numerous parasitic flatworms of the class Trematoda, having a thick outer cuticle and one or more suckers or hooks for attaching to host tissue. Flatworms include both external and internal parasites of animal hosts, and some cause diseases of humans in tropical regions, such as schistosomiasis. Liver flukes, blood flukes, and planarians are flatworms.

2. Also called fluke

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Etymology

Origin of trematode

1830–40; < New Latin Trematoda class name < Greek trēmatṓdēs having holes, equivalent to trēmat- (stem of trêma ) hole + -ōdēs -ode ¹

Example Sentences

A trematode has a very specific life cycle, leeching onto three hosts that include a freshwater snail, a fish and then a bird or human who ate the infected fish.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2025

Scientists have studied the phenomenon in other kinds of trematode parasites while they are living inside their hosts.

From Science Magazine • Sep. 21, 2023

California killifish infected with a trematode flatworm, for example, are 10 times to 30 times more likely to become meals for birds than uninfected fish.

From New York Times • Jan. 9, 2023

Of those 12, nine did not change in abundance across the decades; two, a trematode and a thorny-headed worm, decreased; and another, a trematode, increased.

From Scientific American • May 18, 2022

Distoma, dis′tō-ma, n. the genus of trematode worms to which the liver-fluke belongs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various