pilus
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pilus
Borrowed into English from Latin around 1955–60
Vocabulary lists containing pilus
Cell Biology - Middle School
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Cell Biology - High School
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Microbiology - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
At the point of entry for the virus, the pilus bends and snaps off, and the loss of the pilus makes P. aeruginosa much less capable of infecting its own host.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2024
"In our study of Pseudomonas, we were able to explain much more about what exactly is going on, including the force and speed of pilus detachment, and understand why and how this happens."
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2024
A small loop of DNA is transferred from one cell to another via the pilus.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
During conjugation, DNA is transferred from one prokaryote to another by means of a pilus that brings the organisms into contact with one another.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013
As each pilus gets tugged the bacterium staggers and stumbles, moving randomly across the surface.
From US News ● Oct. 8, 2010
E. coli has many short arms, known as pili, which the bacterium uses to recognize its host's glycocalyx and cling onto it.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 25, 2024
"The bacteria use their pili to bind to the sensor in several places, which allows them to hang on particularly well," says Terfort.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 25, 2024
Prof Helen Wallace is one of the world's leading authorities on the kenari, and its sister trees and nuts, the pili and galip.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2022
Our leading hypothesis is that phages use CtrA to guesstimate when there will be enough bacteria nearby sporting pili and flagella that they can readily infect.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2022
There was no musical instrument, the performers were men, and the mele they cantillated went as follows: A pili, a pili, A pili ka'u manu Ke kepau 485 o ka ulu-laau.
From Unwritten Literature of Hawaii The Sacred Songs of the Hula by Emerson, Nathaniel Bright
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.
