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nostoc

American  
[nos-tok] / ˈnɒs tɒk /

noun

  1. any freshwater, blue-green alga of the genus Nostoc, often occurring in jellylike colonies in moist places.


nostoc British  
/ ˈnɒstɒk /

noun

  1. any cyanobacterium of the genus Nostoc, occurring in moist places as rounded colonies consisting of coiled filaments in a gelatinous substance

"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

Etymology

Origin of nostoc

From New Latin, dating back to 1640–50, coined by Paracelsus

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.

Upon my replying that this phlegm is a vegetable called nostoc, I was, like St Paul, judged to be mad, and that too much learning had turned my brain.

From Project Gutenberg

We are not told of nostoc, this time: it is said that the object contained numerous eggs of "some species of Chironomus, from which larvae soon emerged."

From Project Gutenberg

Or we've arrived at one of the oldest of the exclusionists' conventions—or nostoc.

From Project Gutenberg

In looking up the subject, myself, I have read only of greenish nostoc.

From Project Gutenberg

Or that, if often reported, grayish or whitish gelatinous substance is not nostoc, and is not spawn if occurring in times unseasonable for spawn.

From Project Gutenberg