- a variation of ameba.
amoeba
Americannoun
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amoebas,
plural
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amoebae
plural
noun
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amoebas
plural
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The term amoeba is sometimes used to refer to something with an indefinite, changeable shape.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of amoeba
C19: from New Latin, from Greek amoibē change, from ameibein to change, exchange
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How does amoeba compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An amoeba is a tiny, single-celled organism. You need a powerful microscope to see an amoeba. An amoeba is distinguished by the fact that it has only one cell, and that the shape of its body is vague and irregular. An amoeba stretches and changes shape as it moves, and reproduces by splitting itself in two. The amoeba was discovered in 1757 and named almost 100 years later, from the Greek root amoibe, or "change."
Vocabulary lists containing amoeba
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Inside the amoeba, these pathogens can survive in a kind of safe shelter, shielded from disinfectants that would normally destroy them.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
A thoroughly uninflected, completely random space is not natural; after all, even an amoeba has a nucleus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
"It's not fungi, it's not a plant, it's not animal. It's more closely related to an amoeba," Barry explains.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
In fact, they immediately set themselves on the task of pleasing Carol and those like her, along with solving the riddle of their immunity, so they can absorb the stragglers into their joy amoeba.
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2025
And a free- swimming one-celled amoeba is much more sophisticated; with about four hundred million bits in its DNA, it would require some eighty 500-page volumes to make another amoeba.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The danger does not come only from the amoebae themselves.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2026
Many of these amoebae thrive in warm conditions, so as water temperatures increase, they are likely to expand into new regions where they were once uncommon.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
Scientists say one of the most concerning features of these amoebae is their ability to survive harsh conditions that would normally kill other microorganisms.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
Bacteria and viruses can survive inside amoebae, shielded from disinfection processes that would normally eliminate them.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 25, 2026
I suppose it all started when Lorraine and I and these two amoebae called Dennis Kobin and Norton Kelly were hot on those phone gags last September.
From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel
Familiar examples include amoebas, various algae, and diatoms, which are microscopic organisms often found in aquatic environments.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Visitors to Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada are being warned against submerging themselves in the hot springs below the Hoover Dam due to the risk of infection by deadly brain-eating amoebas.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
Although kelp behaves and looks like a plant, it’s a protist, the same group as single-cell amoebas.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 8, 2023
The researchers used amoebas as “virus bait,” they said, because they thought it would be a good way to search for viruses without propagating ones that could spread to animals or humans.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 2, 2022
They squirmed like amoebas under a microscope, row upon row receding into a haze of smoke.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
