alga

American  

[al-guh] / ˈæl gə /

noun

algae, plural algas plural

1. any organism belonging to one of the numerous groups of algae.

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alga Scientific  

/ ăl′gə /

algae plural

1. Any of various green, red, or brown organisms that grow mostly in water, ranging in size from single cells to large spreading seaweeds. Like plants, algae manufacture their own food through photosynthesis and release large amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere. They also fix large amounts of carbon, which would otherwise exist in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Algae form a major component of marine plankton and are often visible as pond scum and blooms in tidal pools. Land species mostly live in moist soil and on tree trunks or rocks. Some species live in extreme environments, such as deserts, hot springs, and glaciers. Although they were once classified as plants, the algae are now considered to be protists, with the exception of the cyanobacteria, formerly called blue-green algae. The algae do not form a distinct phylogenetic group, but the word alga serves as a convenient catch-all term for various photosynthetic protist phyla, including the green algae, brown algae, and red algae.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• alga-like
  adjective
• algal
  adjective
• antialgal
  adjective
• non-algal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• algae
  plural
• algas
  plural

Example Sentences

This demonstrates that the mechanism is conserved across different microbes and lifestyles,' said Professor Alga Zuccaro.

From Science Daily • Nov. 27, 2024

The article describing these findings titled, "A Cell-Based Model for Size Control in the Multiple Fission Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii," was published on November 9, 2023, in the journal Current Biology.

From Science Daily • Nov. 13, 2023

Alga Toetu, 24, lost her 13-month-old daughter, Blessing – her only child – to measles at 9am on 1 December.

From The Guardian • Jul. 4, 2020

His mother was the former Sula Alga Lamm.

From New York Times • Feb. 23, 2017

Alga marina thrown up by the surf or tide.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir