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

“Even within the food program, food chemical issues have largely taken a backseat to more traditional food safety issues, like food pathogens, E. coli and foodborne illness outbreaks.”

From Salon • Apr. 11, 2026

The FDA has yet to confirm that E. coli has been found in any Raw Farm products, he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026

In the first study, researcher Navish Wadhwa and his team found that salmonella and E. coli can migrate across moist surfaces even when their flagella are disabled.

From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2026

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 • Feb. 19, 2026

E. coli can survive by feeding on two very different kinds of sugars—glucose and lactose.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee