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Showing results for bacteriophage. Search instead for bacteriophore.

bacteriophage

American  
[bak-teer-ee-uh-feyj] / bækˈtɪər i əˌfeɪdʒ /

noun

  1. any of a group of viruses that infect specific bacteria, usually causing their disintegration or dissolution.


bacteriophage British  
/ bækˌtɪərɪˈɒfəɡəs, bækˈtɪərɪəˌfeɪdʒ, bækˌtɪərɪəˈfædʒɪk /

noun

  1. Often shortened to: phage.  a virus that is parasitic in a bacterium and multiplies within its host, which is destroyed when the new viruses are released

"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

bacteriophage Scientific  
/ băk-tîrē-ə-fāj′ /
  1. A virus that infects and destroys bacterial cells.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of bacteriophage

First recorded in 1920–25; from French bactériophage; see origin at bacterio-, -phage

Vocabulary lists containing bacteriophage

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:

They were then refined to produce a type of virus, known as a bacteriophage, which infect only specific species of bacteria.

From BBC Aug. 6, 2026

Once assembled, the genome is introduced into a safe laboratory strain where it becomes an active bacteriophage.

From Science Daily Jan. 21, 2026

They're known as bacteria eaters, or bacteriophage, or commonly as phage.

From BBC Jun. 27, 2025

The team then synthesized a lysin from a bacteriophage, or virus that attacks bacteria, that infects S. hominis.

From Science Daily Apr. 23, 2024

The toxins of diphtheria bacilli and streptococci are produced when the organisms have been infected by bacteriophage; it is the virus that provides the code for toxin.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

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