halophile

American

[hal-uh-fahyl] / ˈhæl əˌfaɪl /

noun

Microbiology.

any organism, most commonly a species of archaea, that requires a salt-rich environment for its growth and survival.

halophile British

/ ˈhæləʊˌfaɪl /

noun

an organism that thrives in an extremely salty environment, such as the Dead Sea

"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

Other Word Forms

halophilic adjective
halophilous adjective

Etymology

Origin of halophile

First recorded in 1835–45; halo- + -phile

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One extreme halophile and the thermoacidophile Sulfolobus were known to be exceptions to this generalization; they were considered to have an idiosyncratic wall structure.

From Scientific American

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023