Acanthocephala
noun plural
Acan·tho·ceph·a·la
| \ ə-ˌkan(t)-thə-ˈsef-ə-lə
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Medical Definition of Acanthocephala
: a group of elongated parasitic intestinal worms with a hooked proboscis that as adults lack a digestive tract and absorb food through the body wall, and that are usually classified as a separate phylum related to the phylum Platyhelminthes