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extremophile

British  
/ ɪkˈstrɛməˌfaɪl /

noun

  1. a microbe that lives in an environment once thought to be uninhabitable, for example in boiling or frozen water

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

extremophile Scientific  
/ ĭk-strēmə-fīl′ /
  1. An organism adapted to living in conditions of extreme temperature, pressure, or chemical concentration, as in highly acidic or salty environments. Many extremophiles are unicellular organisms known as archaea.


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.

When you can do that, you're called an extremophile.

From Salon

Organisms that can survive in this suspended, or anabiotic, state, Yarzábal explained, include not just extremophile bacteria but also viruses, fungi, protozoa and microscopic animals called nematodes.

From Salon

But it won’t arrive until 2031 and that’s only one icy world that could be home to life — most recently, it was reported that Miranda, a moon of Uranus, might be another candidate for extremophile life that can flourish under intense cold.

From Salon

In ACS' Journal of Proteome Research, researchers detail a method for more accurate extremophile identification based on protein fragments instead of genetic material.

From Science Daily

These results suggest proteotyping could be a more complete solution for identifying extremophile microorganisms from small biological samples.

From Science Daily