noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The larva or young of the mussel.

   "Glochidia were once believed to be parasites on the gills of the parents."

2. 2
   a barbed spine or bristle (often tufted on cacti) wordnet
3. 3
   A glochid, or cactus spine.

Synonyms

All synonyms

glochid

Example

More examples

"Glochidia were once believed to be parasites on the gills of the parents."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γλωχίς (glōkhís, “barb of an arrow”) + -idium.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.