ciliate
Americannoun
adjective
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Also ciliated having cilia.
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belonging or pertaining to the phylum Ciliophora.
adjective
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Also: ciliated. possessing or relating to cilia
a ciliate epithelium
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of or relating to protozoans of the phylum Ciliophora , which have an outer layer of cilia
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ciliate
1785–95; < New Latin ciliātus, equivalent to cili ( a ) cilia + -ātus -ate 1
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.
In this ciliate, that familiar ending system has been rearranged.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2026
The probable culprit is a disease-causing ciliate parasite that brings with it a fast death - perhaps the same one that has wreaked havoc on sea urchin populations in the Caribbean.
From Reuters ● May 24, 2023
One ciliate can consume up to 1 million virus particles a day, he and his colleagues wrote in PNAS.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 11, 2023
For now, here’s a cute scuticociliate, a scuttle-y little ciliate that can jump fairly impressive distances.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 17, 2013
Leaves.—With petioles somewhat widened at base and ciliate; the upper all opposite.
From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Mary Elizabeth Parsons
Definitions 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.
