flagellate

[verb flaj-uh-leyt; adjective, noun flaj-uh-lit, -leyt]

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verb (used with object), flag·el·lat·ed, flag·el·lat·ing.

to whip; scourge; flog; lash.

adjective

Also flag·el·lat·ed. Biology. having flagella.

Botany. producing filiform runners or runnerlike branches, as the strawberry.

pertaining to or caused by flagellates.

noun

any protozoan of the phylum (or class) Mastigophora, having one or more flagella.

RELATED WORDS

hit, beat, flay, spank, thrash, lash, tan, flog, belt

Origin of flagellate

1615–25; < Latin flagellātus, past participle of flagellāre to whip. See flagellum, -ate¹

Related formsflag·el·la·tor, nounflag·el·la·to·ry

[flaj-uh-luh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] /ˈflædʒ ə ləˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjectivemul·ti·flag·el·late, adjectivemul·ti·flag·el·lat·ed, adjectivenon·flag·el·late, adjectivenon·flag·el·lat·ed, adjectivepre·flag·el·late, adjectivepre·flag·el·lat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flagellate

Historical Examples of flagellate

Byron, Shelley, and Moore all flagellate him in their poetry.
Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature - 4. Naturalism in England
Georg Brandes
I will cut him up, sir; I will flay him—flagellate him—finish him!
Punch, or the London Charivari. Vol. 1, July 31, 1841
Various
At this stage many of the spores assume each a flagellate cilium, and so acquire power of more rapid locomotion.
The North American Slime-Moulds
Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
These cells, called choanocytes, resemble independent animals of the Protozoa, known as flagellate Infusoria or Choanoflagellata.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide
Augusta Foote Arnold
Most of the flagellate infusoria do just the reverse; they are anodically sensitive or positively galvanotactic.
The Wonders of Life
Ernst Haeckel

British Dictionary definitions for flagellate

flagellate

verb (ˈflædʒɪˌleɪt)

(tr) to whip; scourge; flog

adjective (ˈflædʒɪlɪt, -ˌleɪt) flagellated

possessing one or more flagella

resembling a flagellum; whiplike

noun (ˈflædʒɪlɪt, -ˌleɪt)

a flagellate organism, esp any protozoan of the phylum Zoomastigina

Derived Formsflagellation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for flagellate

1620s, from Latin flagellatus, past participle of flagellare "to scourge, lash" (see flagellum). Related: Flagellated; flagellating. An earlier verb for this was flagellen (mid-15c.).

Medicine definitions for flagellate

flagellate

[flăj′ə-lĭt, -lāt′, flə-jĕl′ĭt]

adj.

Flagellated.

Relating to or caused by a flagellate organism.

n.

A member of the class Mastigophora, comprising organisms having a flagellum.

Science definitions for flagellate

flagellate

[flăj′ə-lāt′]

Any of various protozoans of the subphylum Mastigophora that move by means of one or more flagella. Some flagellates can make food by photosynthesis (such as euglenas and volvox), and are often classified as green algae by botanists. Others are symbiotic or parasitic (such as trypanosomes). Flagellates are related to amoebas. Also called mastigophoran