flatworm
flatworm — noun
- flatwormsingular
- flatwormsplural
1. a flat-bodied worm that lives as a parasite inside people or animals, feeding on
a flat-bodied worm that lives as a parasite inside people or animals, feeding on the host and sometimes causing disease — tapeworms and flukes are well-known examples
The veterinarian said the stray dog had flatworms from eating infected meat.
In some rural areas, people get flatworms by drinking untreated water from streams or ponds.
A tapeworm, which is one type of flatworm, can grow several meters long inside a person's gut.
The doctor explained that flatworms can live for years inside a host without causing any symptoms.
Farmers treat their cattle for flatworms to keep them healthy and the meat safe.
- platyhelminth
the formal scientific term for any member of the phylum Platyhelminthes; very technical, rarely used outside biology
- roundworm
a different phylum (nematodes) with a cylindrical body, not flat, and includes many parasites as well as free-living species
用法筆記
Commonly used in medical and veterinary contexts. Individual types are more often called tapeworms (絛蟲), flukes (吸蟲), or planarians (渦蟲).
常見錯誤
2. a simple worm whose body is soft and flat, living freely in water, wet soil, or
a simple worm whose body is soft and flat, living freely in water, wet soil, or under rocks without depending on a host — a planarian is one well-known example and can regrow its body if cut into pieces
In biology class, Andrei watched a flatworm glide across a glass slide under the microscope.
observed under microscope in lab
The students lifted damp stones by the stream and found flatworms crawling underneath.
Unlike parasitic flatworms, free-living flatworms hunt small creatures in ponds and streams.
A planarian — a kind of flatworm — can regrow its whole body from a small piece.
Salma's science project showed how a flatworm finds food by sensing chemicals in water.
- planarian
a specific type of free-living flatworm; often used in classroom experiments on regeneration, while 'flatworm' is the broader group
用法筆記
Most often encountered in biology classrooms when studying simple animals and regeneration. Planarians (渦蟲) are the most commonly discussed free-living flatworm in school science.