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    Tapeworm — definition & meaning




    WordTypeDefinition
    Tapeworm 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.



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