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Examples of horsehair worm in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Because genes encode the instructions to build these proteins, Sato and his colleagues set out to examine how both species' gene activity changed during the course of a horsehair worm infection.
—Darren Incorvaia, Scientific American, 1 Jan. 2024
Some of its typical bug prey contain horsehair worms, Chordodes fukuii, which grow in a mantid's gut—and somehow manipulate the mantid into diving into the nearest body of water.
—Darren Incorvaia, Scientific American, 1 Jan. 2024
As Ed Yong at The Atlantic reports, horsehair worms can survive being swallowed by insects and can even escape the digestive tracts of larger animals.
—Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 21 Feb. 2018
The creatures start out as eggs laid in freshwater, where most species of horsehair worm primarily live.
—Ben Panko, Smithsonian, 27 Sep. 2017
According to Hanelt, one of his colleagues found horsehair worms nearly seven feet long in the wild.
—Ben Panko, Smithsonian, 27 Sep. 2017
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Word History
First Known Use
circa 1753, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of horsehair worm was
circa 1753
Dictionary Entries Near horsehair worm
Cite this Entry
“Horsehair worm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horsehair%20worm. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
horsehair worm
noun
: any of various long slender worms whose adults live in water and whose larvae are parasites of insects
Medical Definition
horsehair worm
noun
horse·hair worm
-ˌha(ə)r-, -he(ə)r-
: any worm of the class or phylum Nematomorpha
called also gordiacean, horsehair snake
More from Merriam-Webster on horsehair worm
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about horsehair worm
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