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serpula

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of numerous species of tubicolous annelids of the genus Serpula and allied genera of the family Serpulidae that secrete a calcareous tube, usually irregularly contorted, but sometimes spirally coiled, with a wreath of plumelike and often bright-colored gills around its head, and usually an operculum to close the aperture of its tube when it retracts.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

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Meaning relationships

Synonyms: calcareous tubeworm, serpulid tubeworm, fanworm, plume worm

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin serpula. See serpent.