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liver fluke
noun
: any of various trematode worms (such as Fasciola hepatica) that invade the mammalian liver
Examples of liver fluke in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Children living in some parts of Asia are at higher risk of bile duct cancer due to the risk of liver fluke infection.
—Jay N. Yepuri, Health, 27 Oct. 2024
Another example is the lancet liver fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum), which infects the brains of ants, altering their behavior to increase the likelihood that they will be eaten by grazing animals.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 17 Aug. 2024
Some of those holes will have liver flukes living inside them.
—Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 29 Feb. 2024
Then there's the lancet liver fluke, whose complicated life cycle relies on successfully invading successive hosts: snails, ants, and grazing mammals.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 20 Sep. 2023
Yes, ivermectin is approved for some human uses: It is used to cure parasitic diseases that mostly occur in low-income countries, such as river blindness and liver flukes.
—Maryn McKenna, WIRED, 19 July 2023
The Chinese liver fluke requires wet marshy areas to sustain its life cycle and could not have been endemic to this arid region.
—Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 25 July 2016
The doctors treated the man with a blood transfusion and the anti-parasitic drug triclabendazole, which is used specifically to treat liver flukes.
—Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 8 Nov. 2019
The doctors extracted some of the worms and identified them as the common liver fluke Fasciola hepatica.
—Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 8 Nov. 2019
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Word History
First Known Use
circa 1795, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near liver fluke
Cite this Entry
“Liver fluke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liver%20fluke. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
liver fluke
noun
: any of various trematode worms that invade the liver of mammals
Medical Definition
liver fluke
noun
: any of various trematode worms that invade the mammalian liver
especially
: one of the genus Fasciola (F. hepatica) that is a major parasite of the liver, bile ducts, and gallbladder of cattle and sheep, causes fascioliasis in humans, and uses snails of the genus Lymnaea as an intermediate host see chinese liver fluke
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