rotifer

noun

ro·​ti·​fer ˈrō-tə-fər 

: any of a class (Rotifera of the phylum Aschelminthes) of minute usually microscopic but many-celled chiefly freshwater aquatic invertebrates having the anterior end modified into a retractile disk bearing circles of strong cilia that often give the appearance of rapidly revolving wheels

Examples of rotifer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Each daughter rotifer is a perfect copy of her mother. —Byphie Jacobs, science.org, 18 July 2024

Microscopic animals called rotifers, for example, require less than a millionth of a calorie to make one offspring. —Carl Zimmer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 May 2024

One candidate, a microscopic animal called a rotifer that is a natural predator in estuaries, looks promising. —Patrick Huyghe, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019

The ones that help the rotifer survive are kept around in the population--some perform useful functions, like breaking certain chemical bonds--while those that don't help die off. —Discover Magazine, 13 Feb. 2012

Word History

Etymology

ultimately from Latin rota + -fer

First Known Use

1777, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

rotifer

noun

ro·​ti·​fer ˈrōt-ə-fər 

: any of a class of tiny aquatic invertebrate animals with circles of cilia on one end that look like moving wheels when moving

Medical Definition

rotifer

noun

ro·​ti·​fer ˈrōt-ə-fər 

: any member of the class Rotifera