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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of nostoc

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

Example Sentences

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

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

From Project Gutenberg

We shall have many data of gelatinous substance said to have fallen from the sky: almost always the exclusionists argue that it was only nostoc, an Alga, or, in some respects, a fungous growth.

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