You searched for: “maggots”
maggot (s) (noun), maggots (pl)
1. The larva of a fly, of the order Diptera, during a wormlike feeding period: Blowfly maggots develop in carrion; flesh-fly maggots, in necrotic or normal tissues of living hosts; and filth-fly maggots live on excrement and decaying organic matter.
2. Etymology: from Middle English maddock, magotte, mathek, "grub, worm, maggot".

From ancient times until the introduction of antibiotics, physicians used maggots to help clean injuries and prevent infections.

Because the maggots feed solely on dead flesh, doctors did not have to worry about them eating healthy tissue.

The arrival of antibiotics replaced medical maggots; then when widespread resistance to antibiotics evolved, there was a new interest in the use of medical maggots.

Maggot therapy may sound medieval, but modern medicine seems to guarantee that it works even now in our modern age.

—Compiled from an article titled
"New studies show how maggots clean wounds and help them heal"
in the Scientific American magazine
by Carrie Arnold; April, 2013; page 9.
This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group M (page 2)