nematode, a. and n.
(ˈnɛmətəʊd)
[See nemato- and -ode1, and cf. nematoid.]
A. adj.
1. Of worms: Pertaining to the class Nematoda or Nematoidea, comprising those of a slender cylindrical or thread-like form (chiefly parasitic in animals or plants), such as the common round-worm, maw-worm, Guinea-worm, etc.
| 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. vii. i. 339 The embryos of the nematode worms may pass the winter in a sort of torpid state. 1876 Beneden's Anim. Parasites Introd. 26 The greater part..have not lived long in captivity, before nematode and cestode worms completely disappear. |
2. [Partly
attrib. uses of the
n.] Of or pertaining to, resembling or characteristic of, worms of this class.
| 1866 Standard 19 Feb., We now proceed to look our foe in the face—if, indeed, the nematode nuisance possesses any face. 1889 Geddes & Thomson Evol. Sex 17 They become parasitic, and lose both activity and nematode form. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 1032 An embryo of the usual nematode character. |
B. n. A nematode worm.
| 1865 T. S. Cobbold in Pop. Sci. Rev. IV. 163 In various plants I have..noticed free nematodes within their parenchyma. 1876 Beneden's Anim. Parasites 155 A nematode which I observed under very singular circumstances. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 684 Three stages..have been distinguished in the growth of a Nematode after hatching. |
| Comb. 1898 Sedgwick Text-bk. Zool. I. vii. 291 A..vermiform body carrying a small Nematode-like worm. |