vorticella Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of various protozoa having a transparent goblet-shaped body with a retractile stalk

WordNet

Vor`ti*cel"la noun
Etymology
NL., dim. fr. L. vortex. See Vortex.
Wordforms
plural E Vorticellas L Vorticellæ
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of ciliated Infusoria belonging to Vorticella and many other genera of the family Vorticellidæ. They have a more or less bell-shaped body with a circle of vibrating cilia around the oral disk. Most of the species have slender, contractile stems, either simple or branched.

Webster 1913