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Glite Dictionary
soft tick

soft tick

9.7
A small blood-sucking animal without a hard shell on its back that bites animals and birds
  • noun
  • /sɔft tɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : garrapata blanda
  • The veterinarian explained that soft ticks can be difficult to detect due to their small size.

Examples

  • "Fortunately," Endris says, "none of the soft tick species found in and around the United States can transmit ASF virus to their progeny through eggs, as O. moubata does in Africa."

    Academic text (1996)

  • The association between Ehrlichia/Anaplasma spp. and soft ticks is unknown.

    Academic text (2012)

  • The association of Rickettsia spp. with soft ticks is poorly understood.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Soft ticks are found in many regions, often hiding in cracks and crevices during the day.

  • Research shows that soft ticks often feed on hosts while they are sleeping, making them a concern for pet owners.

Synonyms

argasid
vssoft tick
  • Specialized
9.9

A soft tick without a hard shell that feeds on the blood of birds or mammals

shares the same meaning but uses another name for it

Surface Forms

soft tick singular
soft ticks plural

Morphology

soft + tick

The meaning is directly composed from 'soft' + 'tick' — a tick characterized by being soft (lacking a hard shield) — so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a type of tick. Although the full taxonomic detail (Argasidae) is specialized, the basic referent is transparently predictable from the constituents and common noun + adjective noun formation.

Etymology

Soft tick is a name that gives a simple picture: these soft ticks do not have the hard back shield that 'hard ticks' have. That's why the name means 'a tick without a hard shell'.