flatworm

[flat-wurm] /ˈflætˌwɜrm/

noun

any worm of the phylum Platyhelminthes, having bilateral symmetry and a soft, solid, usually flattened body, including the planarians, tapeworms, and trematodes; platyhelminth.

Origin

1895-1900; flat¹ + worm

Examples from the web for flatworm

The two are not so intimately related as flatworm and algae.
Deep beneath an ancient ocean, a flatworm stalked its unsuspecting prey.

British Dictionary definitions for flatworm

flatworm

/ˈflætˌwɜːm/

noun

any parasitic or free-living invertebrate of the phylum Platyhelminthes, including planarians, flukes, and tapeworms, having a flattened body with no circulatory system and only one opening to the intestine

flatworm in Medicine

flatworm flat·worm (flāt'wûrm')
n.
Any of various worms of the phylum Platyhelminthes, including the parasitic tapeworms and flukes, characteristically having a soft, flat, bilaterally symmetrical body and no body cavity. Also called platyhelminth.

flatworm in Science

flatworm

(flāt'wûrm')
Any of various parasitic and nonparasitic worms of the phylum Platyhelminthes, characteristically having a soft, flat, bilaterally symmetrical body. Flatworms lack a coelom (body cavity), respiratory system, and circulatory system, but are the most primitive invertebrates to have a brain. The evolutionary history of flatworms is uncertain, but they share some basic characteristics with rotifers, nematodes, and a few other invertebrate phyla. Cestodes (tapeworms), planarians, and trematodes (flukes) are flatworms.