- a variation of ameba.
amoeba
Americannoun
noun
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The term amoeba is sometimes used to refer to something with an indefinite, changeable shape.
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Etymology
Origin of amoeba
C19: from New Latin, from Greek amoibē change, from ameibein to change, exchange
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How does amoeba compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An amoeba is a tiny, single-celled organism. You need a powerful microscope to see an amoeba. An amoeba is distinguished by the fact that it has only one cell, and that the shape of its body is vague and irregular. An amoeba stretches and changes shape as it moves, and reproduces by splitting itself in two. The amoeba was discovered in 1757 and named almost 100 years later, from the Greek root amoibe, or "change."
Vocabulary lists containing amoeba
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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:
Inside the amoeba, these pathogens can survive in a kind of safe shelter, shielded from disinfectants that would normally destroy them.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
A thoroughly uninflected, completely random space is not natural; after all, even an amoeba has a nucleus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
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.
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2025
It was decades after decades of trying to contain something as organic as music, like forcing an amoeba to hold a shape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2024
All four of them walked through the empty basement and up the stairs in a clump, almost like a single creature—an amoeba, maybe.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
These organisms, known as free living amoebae, are found in water and soil, but scientists say some species are becoming increasingly concerning as the world warms and water systems age.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2026
Scientists say one of the most concerning features of these amoebae is their ability to survive harsh conditions that would normally kill other microorganisms.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
Although most people have never heard of free living amoebae, scientists say they deserve far more attention.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
Environmental and public health researchers are drawing attention to a little-known group of pathogens that may pose a rising global danger: free living amoebae.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 25, 2026
I suppose it all started when Lorraine and I and these two amoebae called Dennis Kobin and Norton Kelly were hot on those phone gags last September.
From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel
Rather, these events appear to be common across diverse organisms, from single-celled amoebas to complex multicellular animals.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2024
Visitors to Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada are being warned against submerging themselves in the hot springs below the Hoover Dam due to the risk of infection by deadly brain-eating amoebas.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
Although kelp behaves and looks like a plant, it’s a protist, the same group as single-cell amoebas.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 8, 2023
Although the ones they studied were infectious only to amoebas, the researchers said that there was a risk that other viruses trapped in the permafrost for millennia could spread to humans and other animals.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 2, 2022
Fadi added a few finishing touches to his drawings of amoebas and other single-celled micro-organisms, which the class had been reviewing.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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.
