pseudopod
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of pseudopod
Explanation
In biology, the word pseudopod means a temporary growth on a cell that allows it to be mobile, almost like a little foot. Amoebas use pseudopods to move around. Pseudopod, short for the Modern Latin pseudopodium, comes from the Greek roots psuedo-, "false or fake," and podion, "little foot." The cells that grow these tiny, fake feet (also described as "arm-like") use them as a temporary way of moving from one place to another, essentially by scooting or oozing along. Pseudopods are sometimes also used for feeding.
Vocabulary lists containing pseudopod
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.
The protist then transports its cytoplasm into the pseudopod, thereby moving the entire cell.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015
The water pseudopod was basically digitally created but optically composited.
From The Verge • Aug. 8, 2014
The awards are a very tentacular affair, the ubiquitous pseudopod somehow neatly summing up the Kitschies ethos – Lovecraftian horrors have tentacles, and so do bug-eyed monsters from outer space.
From The Guardian • Jan. 18, 2013
ILM has tamed the elements: fire and water are notoriously tough to animate, but the company managed the first convincingly in Backdraft and the second with the slinky pseudopod in The Abyss.
From Time Magazine Archive
By the statue hangs a faded banner: Bolivia Mar. When Bolivia declared its independence it had a territorial pseudopod that extended southwest from its Andean heartland through the Atacama Desert to the sea.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
