pilus
Americannoun
plural
piliEtymology
Origin of pilus
Borrowed into English from Latin around 1955–60
Vocabulary lists containing pilus
Cell Biology - Middle School
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Cell Biology - High School
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Microbiology - High 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.
At the point of entry for the virus, the pilus bends and snaps off, and the loss of the pilus makes P. aeruginosa much less capable of infecting its own host.
From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2024
"In our study of Pseudomonas, we were able to explain much more about what exactly is going on, including the force and speed of pilus detachment, and understand why and how this happens."
From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2024
In conjugation, DNA is transferred from one prokaryote to another by means of a pilus, which brings the organisms into contact with one another.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Illustration C shows two bacteria connected by a pilus.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015
Page 60 as A. verna; the pilus convex, the annulus broad and entire, Changed to pileus.
From Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. by Atkinson, George Francis
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.
