Vor`ti*cel"la (?), n.; pl. E. Vorticellas (), L. Vorticellae (). [NL., dim. fr. L. vortex. See Vortex.] Zool.
Any one of numerous species of ciliated Infusoria belonging to Vorticella and many other genera of the family Vorticellidae. 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.