noun
unsegmented worms: roundworms; threadworms; eelworms
• Syn: ↑Nematoda, ↑phylum Nematoda, ↑phylum Aschelminthes
• Hypernyms: ↑phylum
• Member Holonyms: ↑Animalia, ↑kingdom Animalia, ↑animal kingdom
• Member Meronyms:
↑helminth, ↑parasitic worm, ↑Aphasmidia, ↑class Aphasmidia, ↑Phasmidia, ↑class Phasmidia, ↑nematode, ↑nematode worm, ↑roundworm, ↑Ascaridae, ↑family Ascaridae, ↑Oxyuridae, ↑family Oxyuridae, ↑Cephalobidae, ↑family Cephalobidae, ↑Tylenchidae, ↑family Tylenchidae, ↑Ancylostomatidae, ↑family Ancylostomatidae, ↑Filariidae, ↑family Filariidae, ↑Dracunculidae, ↑family Dracunculidae
* * *
\\ˌaskˌhelˈminˌthēz, ˌaˌskel-\ noun pluralUsage: capitalized
in some classifications : a phylum of pseudocoelomate animals including the Rotifera, Gastrotricha, Kinorhyncha, Nematoda, Nematomorpha, and sometimes the Acanthocephala all of which are sometimes regarded as independent phyla — compare entoprocta
* * *
/ask'hel min"theez/, n. Zool.
a major grouping (formerly a phylum) of small-to-microscopic pseudocoelomate organisms, as the rotifers, nematodes, and gastrotriches, all of which are now classified as separate phyla.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.