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:
"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
"AI was not used to generate the experimental movie, the cilia, or their motion," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 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
In the lungs, their cilia sway back and forth to keep fluids like mucus from collecting.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2024
Spirochetes, like the ones attached to M. paradoxa, joined up and became the cilia of eukaryotic cells.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
The newly identified mechanism operates within the primary cilium, a microscopic antenna-shaped structure that extends from the surface of most cells in the body.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
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
Running a low positive voltage through a cilium triggers a chemical reaction: as a droplet of test fluid flows past, the electrified platinum breaks apart the water molecules within the droplet.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 11, 2022
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
From the large size of each cilium they are very favorable creatures for exhibiting the real nature of the action, which gives rise to the rotatory appearance, and which can be easier studied than described.
From Marvels of Pond-life A Year's Microscopic Recreations by Henry J. Slack
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
