dictionary help| centipede | medical dictionary |
A venomous predatory arthropod of the order Chilopoda, characterised by one pair of legs per leg-bearing segment. The venom is injected through the first pair of leg-like appendages, modified into piercing claws; the bites may be painful and locally necrotic, but seldom are dangerous, except to very young children. Genera found in the U.S. Include Scutigera, Lithobius, Scolopendra, and Geophilus.
Origin: L. Centum, hundred, + pes (ped-), foot
(05 Mar 2000)
centimetre-gram-second unit, centimorgan, centinormal < Prev | Next > centipoise, centra, centractin, centrad
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