noun
1. parasitic on sheep and cattle as well as humans; can transmit looping ill in sheep (acute viral disease of the nervous system); a vector for Lyme disease spirochete
• Syn: ↑sheep-tick, ↑Ixodes ricinus
• Member Holonyms: ↑Ixodes, ↑genus Ixodes
2. wingless fly that is an external parasite on sheep and cattle
• Syn: ↑sheep ked, ↑sheep-tick, ↑Melophagus Ovinus
• Hypernyms: ↑louse fly, ↑hippoboscid
• Member Holonyms: ↑Melophagus, ↑genus Melophagus
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nounEtymology: Middle English scheptyke, from schep, sheep sheep + tyke tick
1. : sheep ked
2. : castor-bean tick
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sheep tick noun
1. Strictly, a tick (Ixodes ricinus), a parasite of sheep (and other animals, incl humans)
2. Commonly, a sheep ked
• • •
Main Entry: ↑sheep
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sheep tick,
= sheep ked: (Cf. ↑sheep ked) »
Sheep ticks are properly not ticks at all, but wingless flies (Science News Letter).
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n. a large tick that infests many mammals, including humans, and frequently transmits diseases. ● Ixodes ricinus, family Ixodidae
Useful english dictionary. 2012.