pilus
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
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.
They observed how a phage called PP7 infects P. aeruginosa by attaching to the pilus, which then retracts and pulls the phage to the cell surface.
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
A small loop of DNA is transferred from one cell to another via the 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.
