Meaning & use
liver fluke
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablebiology
A parasitic flatworm that lives in the liver and bile ducts of animals such as sheep and cattle, and occasionally infects humans.
Grammar: Countable; the plural is liver flukes. Often used in the context of farming and veterinary science.
Patterns
- infected with liver fluke
- liver fluke larvae
- liver fluke eggs
The vet blamed liver fluke for the sheep's sudden weight loss.
Liver fluke eggs pass out of the animal in its droppings.
Wet pastures increase the risk of liver fluke in cattle herds.
noununcountablemedical
The disease caused by infection with liver flukes, which damages the liver and reduces growth or milk production.
Grammar: Uncountable when naming the disease; say a flock has liver fluke.
Patterns
- have liver fluke
- an outbreak of liver fluke
- treat liver fluke
The whole flock was treated after one animal developed liver fluke.
Farmers dose their cattle twice a year to control liver fluke.
An outbreak of liver fluke can be expensive for a sheep farm.
Word forms
| plural | liver flukes |
|---|
Common combinations
- infected with liver fluke
- Half the herd tested positive and was infected with liver fluke.
- liver fluke infection
- Liver fluke infection shows up as poor condition and diarrhea.
- control liver fluke
- Rotating pastures helps farmers control liver fluke.
- liver fluke larvae
- The snail acts as a host for liver fluke larvae.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fluke
- On its own, fluke can mean any flatworm parasite or several other unrelated things; liver fluke names the specific liver parasite.
- Fasciola
- The scientific genus name used in biology and medicine for the flatworms that cause this infection.
Word family
- fluke noun
- A flatworm parasite; also, confusingly, an accidental piece of luck or a part of a whale's tail.
Commonly confused: liver fluke or fluke?
liver fluke vs fluke
In general English a fluke is a lucky accident or a whale's tail fin; only in biology does it mean the parasite, so liver fluke makes the meaning clear.
Practice
Liver fluke is a parasite that lives and reproduces in the ___ of infected animals.
Choose one answer.
The name itself gives the location: liver fluke lives in the liver and bile ducts. The other organs are not where this parasite is found.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “liver fluke”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.