trematode
Americannoun
noun
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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.
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Also called fluke
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Researchers identified two species of trematode: Haplorchis pumilio and Centrocestus formosanus.
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
Euhaplorchis californiensis, for one, is a trematode flatworm that, in its larval stage, looks a bit like a sperm, with a big head and long tail.
From Scientific American • May 18, 2022
Redia, rē′di-a, n. a stage in some trematode worms immediately before cercaria:—pl.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
