amoeba

[uh-mee-buh]

noun

plural

amoebas, amoebae 

1. a variant of ameba.

amoeba

/ əˈmiːbə /

noun

1. any protozoan of the phylum Rhizopoda , esp any of the genus Amoeba, able to change shape because of the movements of cell processes (pseudopodia). They live in fresh water or soil or as parasites in man and animals

amoeba

plural

amoebas 

1. Any of various one-celled aquatic or parasitic protozoans of the genus Amoeba or related genera, having no definite form and consisting of a mass of protoplasm containing one or more nuclei surrounded by a flexible outer membrane. Amoebas move by means of pseudopods.

amoeba

1. An animal composed of only one cell that has no fixed shape. It is the best known of the single-celled animals, or protozoa.

The term amoeba is sometimes used to refer to something with an indefinite, changeable shape.

Other Word Forms

• amoebic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of amoeba¹

C19: from New Latin, from Greek amoibē change, from ameibein to change, exchange

Example Sentences

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.

Read more on Salon

In the meter stick analogy, amplifying the signal makes the amoeba appear larger so that even coarse measurement markings can capture it accurately.

Read more on Science Daily

The culprit was Naegleria fowleri - commonly known as the brain-eating amoeba - an infection usually contracted through the nose in freshwater and so rare that most doctors never encounter a case in their entire careers.

Read more on BBC

“The European Parliament is a bit like The Blob,” she said, referring to the 1958 film about a massive amoeba that threatens to destroy the world.

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It was decades after decades of trying to contain something as organic as music, like forcing an amoeba to hold a shape.

Read more on Los Angeles Times