noun pl. glochidia
- Bot. a barbed hair or bristle, as on certain cactuses or on the spore masses of ferns
- Zool. the parasitic larval stage of freshwater mussels (family Unionidae) which infests the gills, etc. of many fishes
Origin:
ModL < Gr glōchis, point (see gloss) + ModL -idium, dim. suffix < Gr -idion