saprobe

American

[sap-rohb] / ˈsæp roʊb /

noun

Biology.

saprophyte.

saprobe British

/ ˈsæprəʊb /

noun

an organism, esp a fungus, that lives on decaying organisms; a saprotroph See also saprophyte

"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

Etymology

Origin of saprobe

First recorded in 1932; sapro- + (micro)be

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

saprobe

Indeed, without saprobe species, such as protists, fungi, and bacteria, life would cease to exist as all organic carbon became “tied up” in dead organisms.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023