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

See Examples For:

filterable virus

"What caused my clear spots," he wrote, "was in fact an invisible microbe, a filterable virus, but a virus parasitic on bacteria."

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

Said the investigators: "The outbreak . . . was due to a filterable virus and spread through contact infection."

From Time Magazine Archive

The disease so produced is not contagious, and the contagious element seems to be due to the filterable virus.

From Disease and Its Causes by Councilman, William Thomas