guinea worm (redirected from Guinea worms)

guinea worm

n.

A long threadlike nematode worm (Dracunculus medinensis) of tropical Asia and Africa that is a subcutaneous parasite of humans and other mammals and causes ulcerative lesions on the legs and feet.

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[After the Guinea coast of Africa.]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Guinea worm - a painful and debilitating infestation contracted by drinking stagnant water contaminated with Guinea worm larvae that can mature inside a human's abdomen until the worm emerges through a painful blister in the person's skin dracunculiasis, Guinea worm disease infestation - the state of being invaded or overrun by parasites
	2.	Guinea worm - parasitic roundworm of India and Africa that lives in the abdomen or beneath the skin of humans and other vertebrates Dracunculus medinensis nematode, nematode worm, roundworm - unsegmented worms with elongated rounded body pointed at both ends; mostly free-living but some are parasitic Dracunculus, genus Dracunculus - type genus of the family Dracunculidae