filterable virus

American  

noun

1. a virus particle small enough to pass through a filter of diatomaceous earth or porcelain, which will not pass bacteria: chiefly historical or an informal indicator of size, as synthetic membrane filters now permit passage of the smallest virus.

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Etymology

Origin of filterable virus

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

No one has ever isolated a microbe or filterable virus which could be shown to cause common colds.

From Time Magazine Archive

What causes infection is a mystery, although doctors suspect a filterable virus.

From Time Magazine Archive

In 1897 he concluded that this infectious, filter-passing fluid was a "filterable virus."

From Time Magazine Archive

Medical texts of the period were studded with such notations as: "The cause of this disease is believed to be a filterable virus, but has not been isolated," Virology needed new foundations to build on.

From Time Magazine Archive

Whereas the real cause is an invisible filterable virus.

From Disturbing Sun by Richardson, Robert S. (Robert Shirley)