echinococcus > define
noun
- Tapeworms whose larvae are parasitic in humans and domestic animals. .
by WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
(n.) A parasite of man and of many domestic and wild animals, forming compound cysts or tumors (called hydatid cysts) in various organs, but especially in the liver and lungs, which often cause death. It is the larval stage of the Taenia echinococcus, a small tapeworm peculiar to the dog.
by Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary