screwworm

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A larva of a blowfly of species Cochliomyia hominivorax (New World screwworm fly) or Chrysomya bezziana (Old World screwworm fly), of tribe Chrysomyini, parasitic in animals and sometimes humans, distinctive in eating living flesh of mammals, unlike most maggots, which eat only dead flesh.

Word forms

screwworm screwworms

Etymology

From screw + worm.

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