trichina

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: tri=chi=na

CIDE DICTIONARY

trichina, n. [NL., fr. Gr. hairy, made of hair, fr. tri`x, tricho`s, hair.].

 A small, slender nematoid worm (Trichina spiralis) which, in the larval state, is parasitic, often in immense numbers, in the voluntary muscles of man, the hog, and many other animals. When insufficiently cooked meat containing the larvæ is swallowed by man, they are liberated and rapidly become adult, pair, and the ovoviviparous females produce in a short time large numbers of young which find their way into the muscles, either directly, or indirectly by means of the blood. Their presence in the muscles and the intestines in large numbers produces trichinosis.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

trichina, n. (pl. trichinae) any hairlike parasitic nematode worm of the genus Trichinella, esp. T. spiralis, the adults of which live in the small intestine, and whose larvae become encysted in the muscle tissue of humans and flesh-eating animals.

Derivative

trichinous adj.

Etymology

mod.L f. Gk trikhinos of hair: see TRICHO-