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pneumococcus

American  
[noo-muh-kok-uhs, nyoo-] / ˌnu məˈkɒk əs, ˌnju- /

noun

  • pneumococci
    plural
  1. a bacterium, Diplococcus pneumoniae, causing lobar pneumonia and associated with certain other diseases, as pericarditis and meningitis.


pneumococcus British  
/ ˌnjuːməʊˈkɒkəs /

noun

  1. a spherical bacterium that occurs in the respiratory tract, esp the Gram-positive Diplococcus pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of pneumococcus

From New Latin, dating back to 1885–90; see origin at pneumo- , -coccus


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.

See Examples For:

In the case of pneumococcus, for example, immunizing children indirectly protects older adults by limiting transmission.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 6, 2022

You know, you and I can be exposed to a pneumococcus and one person gets pneumonia and the other doesn’t.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 17, 2019

We have children’s vaccines against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, chickenpox, polio, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, pneumococcus, haemophilus influenzae and meningococcal disease.

From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2018

Also called pneumococcus, this pathogen is the most common perpetrator of community-acquired pneumonia, which is pneumonia that people get outside hospitals and nursing homes.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 30, 2016

Griffith approached the problem by focusing on the microbe: Why was pneumococcus so fatal to animals?

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

One hundred-thousandth of a gram* of the stuff is enough to destroy a billion pneumococci in two hours.

From Time Magazine Archive

The variety used in San Francisco contained antigens from eight of the most common types of pneumococci.

From Time Magazine Archive

Yet, the baby, instead of dying, "showed marked improvement . . . within 24 hours," and in a few days the sulfapyridine conquered flu germs as well as pneumococci.

From Time Magazine Archive

To combat the pneumococci, he gave the baby injections of the remarkable new drug sulfapyridine.

From Time Magazine Archive

It has been shown positively that acute endocarditis is due to micro-organisms, generally streptococci, staphylococci or pneumococci, and, more frequently than once believed, gonococci.

From Disturbances of the Heart by Oliver T. (Oliver Thomas) Osborne

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