Tapeworm
['teɪpwɜːm] or ['tepwɝm]
Definition
(noun.) ribbonlike flatworms that are parasitic in the intestines of humans and other vertebrates.
Checked by Elaine--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Any one of numerous species of cestode worms belonging to Taenia and many allied genera. The body is long, flat, and composed of numerous segments or proglottids varying in shape, those toward the end of the body being much larger and longer than the anterior ones, and containing the fully developed sexual organs. The head is small, destitute of a mouth, but furnished with two or more suckers (which vary greatly in shape in different genera), and sometimes, also, with hooks for adhesion to the walls of the intestines of the animals in which they are parasitic. The larvae (see Cysticercus) live in the flesh of various creatures, and when swallowed by another animal of the right species develop into the mature tapeworm in its intestine. See Illustration in Appendix.
Typed by Elroy
Definition
n. a term sometimes used as a popular synonym for Cestoda or Cestoid Worms but especially for those which belong to the families T鎛iad and Bothriocephalid.
Editor: Matt
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream you see a tapeworm, or have one, denotes disagreeable prospects for health or for pleasure.
Inputed by Emilia
Examples
- As for Tapeworm, the Charge d'Affaires, he rose up in his box and bowed and simpered, as if he would represent the whole empire. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Look at that infernal sly-boots of a Tapeworm, Fipps whispered, examining his chief from the stalls. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Neither Tapeworm nor Macabau ever sent home a dispatch to his government without a most savage series of attacks upon his rival. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Tapeworm, the Charge d'Affaires, who had abused her so cruelly, came to dine with Jos, and then came every day to pay his respects to Becky. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
Typed by Erica