microbe
pronunciation
How to pronounce microbe in British English:
UK [ˈmaɪkrəʊb]
How to pronounce microbe in American English:
US [ˈmaɪkroʊb]
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- Noun:
- a minute life form (especially a disease-causing bacterium); the term is not in technical use
Word Origin
- microbe (n.)
- popular name for a bacterium, 1878, from French microbe, "badly coined ... by Sédillot" [Weekley] in 1878 from Greek mikros "small" (see mica) + bios "life" (see bio-). It is an incorrect use of bios; in Greek the word would mean literally "short-lived."
Example
- 1. A microbe that uses left-handed dna could exist unrecognised .
- 2. When the synthetic replacement genes from the library were added , the microbe was rescued .
- 3. As living organisms , every microbe needs food .
- 4. So why would a microbe want to take the shape of a star ?
- 5. Sometimes , it unleashes a potentially lethal overreaction to the invading microbe .