: a parasitic worm found in the eye: as
a. : either of two slender nematode worms (Oxyspirura mansoni and O. petrowi) living beneath the nictitating membrane of the eyes of chickens or other birds
b. : a member of a genus (Thelazia) of spiruroid nematodes living in the tear duct and beneath the eyelid of dog, cat, sheep, man, and other mammals and sometimes causing blindness
c. : an African filarial worm (Loa loa) that migrates through the subdermal tissues and eyeball of man — compare calabar swelling
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a filarial worm, Loa loa, of western and central Africa, that is parasitic in the skin, or subcutaneous tissue, of human beings, often migrating into the eye region.
[1585-95]
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eye worm,
a small, parasitic roundworm found in certain areas of Africa. The adult causes irritation by moving about in the subcutaneous tissue and the eyes.
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n. either of two parasitic nematode worms that affect the eyes of mammals: ●
a) a filarial worm of equatorial Africa, infesting humans and other primates, causing loiasis and sometimes passing across the cornea (Loa loa, class Phasmida)
Useful english dictionary. 2012.