cilium
Americannoun
noun
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any of the short thread-like projections on the surface of a cell, organism, etc, whose rhythmic beating causes movement of the organism or of the surrounding fluid
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the technical name for eyelash
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cilia
plural
Etymology
Origin of cilium
From Latin
Vocabulary lists containing cilium
Cell Biology - Middle School
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Cell Biology - High School
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Marine Biology - Middle School
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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.
Scientists have long known that abnormalities in a structure on kidney cells, or the primary cilium, cause cysts to form in kidneys.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2024
The reason for this daytime-induced enhanced healing process appears to be from the relationship the 24-hour cycle has on the length of the primary cilium.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2023
The current model is that cilia are attached to one another by “tip links,” structures which link the tips of one cilium to another.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
But almost all human cells also have one primary, or nonmotile, cilium that functions more like a molecular antenna.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 10, 2014
Behind this, from the concave side of the incurvation, proceeded another long cilium, so delicate as to be discernible only by the use of the highest powers and careful management of the light.
From Discourses Biological and Geological Essays by Thomas Henry Huxley
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.
