Ixodidae

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. A family of tracheate Acarida, typified by the genus Ixodes, and comprising all those mites which are properly called ticks. The skin is tough and leathery, and in the female capable of great distention. The rostrum and mandibles are fitted for sucking, and the tarsi have two claws and a sucking-disk. In their early stages the Ixodidæ are herbivorous and not parasitic; but the adults fasten themselves to various animals and suck blood. There are about 12 genera, and the species are numerous.

Wiktionary

1. n. A taxonomic family within the superfamily Ixodoidea — the ixodids, (hard ticks).

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. a natural family of ticks having a hard shield on the back and mouth parts that project from the head; the hard ticks.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. hard ticks