Meanings
plural hookworms
- countableAny of various parasitic bloodsucking roundworms which cause disease, especially the species Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus, having hooked mouthparts and entering their hosts by boring through the skin.
A heavy infestation of more than 100 hookworms can suck up as much as 16 fluid ounces of blood a day. Since hookworm larvae can be transmitted through a mother's milk, infestations can kill infants.
1996 October 6, William Hathaway, “PARASITE LINKS MEN IN DARING VENTURE”, in Hartford Courant, archived from the original on 28 Nov 2020 - metonymicallyuncountableInfection with one of these parasites.
a case of hookworm
Synonyms: miner's worm, miner's anaemia, miner's disease
Synonyms & antonyms
nounInfection with one of these parasites.
More synonyms by meaning
nouninfestation of the intestines by hookworms which enter the body (usually) through the skin
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian глист
- глист (glist)parasitic worm
Finnish koukkumato, hakamato
- koukkumatoparasitic worm
- hakamatoparasitic worm
French ankylostome
- ankylostomeparasitic worm
Irish péist chrúcach
- péist chrúcachparasitic worm
Polish tęgoryjec
- tęgoryjecparasitic worm
Tagalog tiwal
- tiwalparasitic worm
Turkish kancalı kurt
- kancalı kurtparasitic worm
Cite this entry
hookworm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hookworm
“hookworm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hookworm. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hookworm,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hookworm.
Source: hookworm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.