microbe
[mahy-krohb]
- a microorganism, especially a pathogenic bacterium.
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Origin of microbe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for microbe
Contemporary Examples
"We don't see the microbe themselves but we large scale structures that the microbes constructed before they died," he said.
My failure to see a microbe is a statement about the precision of my instrument, not about whether there is a microbe on the leaf.
Historical Examples
It is then said that the virulence of the microbe is attenuated.
When we discover a microbe of that nature, we will be ready to act.
It is caused by a microbe which has been recently discovered (Spirochæta pallida).
The Sexual QuestionAugust Forel
What is to determine whether you are on the side of the man or the microbe?
Is civilization a disease?Stanton Coit
Why do we respect the opinions of any man or any microbe that ever lived?
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, CompleteAlbert Bigelow Paine
microbe
- any microscopic organism, esp a disease-causing bacterium
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Word Origin
C19: from French, from micro- + Greek bios life
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 microbe
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
microbe
(mī′krōb′)- A microorganism, especially a bacterium that causes disease; a minute life form. No longer in technical use.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
microbe
[mī′krōb′]
- A microorganism, especially a bacterium that causes disease. See Note at germ.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.