cilia
Americanplural noun
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cilium
singular
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Biology. minute hairlike organelles, identical in structure to flagella, that line the surfaces of certain cells and beat in rhythmic waves, providing locomotion to ciliate protozoans and moving liquids along internal epithelial tissue in animals.
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Anatomy. the eyelashes.
noun
Etymology
Origin of cilia
1705–15; New Latin, plural of cilium eyelash, Latin: upper eyelid, perhaps a back formation from supercilium eyebrow; see supercilium
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:
Hirst, who is lead scientist for the NHS centre for PCD diagnosis at the university, said the cells and cilia "look nothing like those from PCD patients".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
"I have been diagnosing PCD for 20 years by examining their cilia waveform, length, cell size and shape," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Spirostomum ambiguum is a giant single-celled ciliate, named for the fringe of hairlike cilia it uses to swim.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
This year's winning video was magnified to 100 times in size, and featured tiny hair-like structures, called cilia, in the airways of a child with a rare genetic disease.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
It has been suggested that flagellae and cilia were once spirochetes that joined up with the other prokaryotes when nucleated cells were being pieced together.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Scientists have long known that abnormalities in a structure on kidney cells, or the primary cilium, cause cysts to form in kidneys.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2024
Depending on its position, a cilium can be more effected by its neighbor than vice versa, especially in a dense carpet of cilia as it frequently occurs in nature.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2023
He points out that Dogic's group created something that looks and acts very much like a cilium or flagellum with its multitude of proteins — but that may, in fact, work very differently.
From Nature ● Jan. 4, 2016
But almost all human cells also have one primary, or nonmotile, cilium that functions more like a molecular antenna.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 10, 2014
The shorter cilium vibrates actively, and effects the locomotion of the organism, while the other trails behind; the whole body rolling on its axis with its pointed end forwards.
From Discourses Biological and Geological Essays by Thomas Henry Huxley
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