leptospira
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of leptospira
< New Latin (1917), equivalent to lepto- lepto- + Latin spīra coil; see spire 2
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.
According to the hypothesis, infected ship rats landed in the New World and excreted leptospira, infecting raccoons, mink, and muskrats whose urine further contaminated any standing fresh water.
From Slate • Nov. 20, 2012
For unknown reasons, it’s the only animal whose kidney can sustain continuous leptospira infections.
From Slate • Nov. 20, 2012
Although free-living, nonpathogenic bacteria from the same family as leptospira survive in Cape Cod and likely can outlast a New England winter, it’s not the ideal condition for the deadly forms of lepto.
From Slate • Nov. 20, 2012
Like Pilgrims in the New World, leptospira must first penetrate the host.
From Slate • Nov. 20, 2012
Subsequently the arguments were substantiated by Drs. Sellard and Theiler who proved that Noguchi's leptospira gave the same reactions as the germ of Weil's Disease.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
