E. coli

American  

[ee koh-lahy] / ˈi ˈkoʊ laɪ /

noun

Bacteriology.

1. Escherichia coli: a species of rod-shaped, facultatively anaerobic bacteria in the large intestine of humans and other animals, sometimes pathogenic.

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E. coli British  

/ ˌiːˈkəʊlaɪ /

noun

1. short for Escherichia coli; see Escherichia

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E. coli Scientific  

/ ēkō′lī /

1. A bacillus (Escherichia coli) normally found in the human gastrointestinal tract and occurring in numerous strains, some of which are responsible for diarrheal diseases. Other strains have important experimental uses in molecular biology.

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Etymology

Origin of E. coli

See Escherichia coli ( def. )

Example Sentences

They found that pieces of amino acids from E. coli bacteria, if trapped in Martian permafrost or ice caps, could survive more than 50 million years even under constant cosmic radiation.

From Science Daily

Participants received a small injection of UV-killed E. coli bacteria in the forearm.

From Science Daily

Water samples taken by DC Water show E. coli bacteria decreasing sharply in the Potomac, but still elevated near the spill site.

From The Wall Street Journal

The company’s U.S. performance last quarter also benefited from comparisons with the previous year’s period, when the chain was grappling with an E. coli outbreak that depressed sales.

From The Wall Street Journal

Monahan's own hunch centres on a subtype of the E. coli bacteria in the gut.

From Barron's