paramecium
any ciliated freshwater protozoan of the genus Paramecium, having an oval body and a long, deep oral groove.
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Origin of paramecium
1Words Nearby paramecium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use paramecium in a sentence
The differences between paramecium, redwoods, and blue whales are easy to spot.
The paramecium are propagated by spontaneous division, as already described.
The Ocean World: | Louis FiguierThe neurone, however, is a little unicellular animal, like the amoeba or the paramecium.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology | Robert E. ParkSwimming vigorously in the water, they devote themselves to chasing the paramecium.
The Ocean World: | Louis FiguierJennings found a number of races of paramecium of different sizes living under natural conditions.
A Critique of the Theory of Evolution | Thomas Hunt Morgan
British Dictionary definitions for paramecium
/ (ˌpærəˈmiːsɪəm) /
any freshwater protozoan of the genus Paramecium, having an oval body covered with cilia and a ventral ciliated groove for feeding: phylum Ciliophora (ciliates)
Origin of paramecium
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for paramecium
[ păr′ə-mē′sē-əm ]
Any of various freshwater protozoans of the genus Paramecium that are usually oval in shape and that move by means of cilia. Although they consist of a single cell, paramecia are large enough to be visible to the naked eye. Like other ciliates, paramecia contain two nuclei, a macronucleus and a micronucleus. On the cellular surface is a groove that opens into a gullet, into which food particles are absorbed.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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