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scolex
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Scolex

Scolex \Sco"lex\, n.; pl. Scoleces. [NL., from Gr. skw`lhx worm, grub.] (Zo["o]l.)

  1. The embryo produced directly from the egg in a metagenetic series, especially the larva of a tapeworm or other parasitic worm. See Illust. of Echinococcus.

  2. One of the Scolecida.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
scolex

"embryo stage of a tapeworm," 1852, from Modern Latin scolex (plural scoleces), from Greek skolex "worm," related to skolyptesthai "to twist and turn," from PIE *skel- (3) "crooked" (see scoliosis).

Wiktionary
scolex

n. The structure at the front end of a tapeworm which, in the adult, has suckers and hooks by which it attaches itself to a host.

Usage examples of "scolex".

A ropy mass extended from the back of her head, flaring like a scolex at the base of her scalp.

He ripped them open and seized the worms in his teeth, ripped them free of her intestinal walls and then tore them apart, killing the scolexes and each and every segment before he swallowed them.