spirillum
Americannoun
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spirilla
plural
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any of several spirally twisted, aerobic bacteria of the genus Spirillum, certain species of which are pathogenic for humans.
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any of various similar microorganisms.
noun
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spirilla
plural
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Etymology
Origin of spirillum
1870–75; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin spīr ( a ) ( see spire 2) + -illum diminutive suffix
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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.
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One is a wriggly spirillum, the other a cigar-shaped bacillus.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then, with his assistant, he put on his white robes, mask, gloves and other precautions for asepsis, setting out the apparatus for the intravenous administration of the drug that would kill the spirillum.
From The Romance of Elaine Sequel to "Exploits of Elaine" by Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve
For some years it was called the “comma bacillus,” from its supposed resemblance in shape to a comma, but it was subsequently found Causation. to be a vibrio or spirillum, not a bacillus.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various
This spiro-bacterium was first observed in relapsing fever by Obermeier7 in 1873, and has since been identified as a spirillum or spiroechete.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
The spirillum, volutans is often found in drinking water, and in common with some other specimens of this class is provided with flagellæ, sometimes at both extremities, which furnish the means of rapid locomotion.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 787, January 31, 1891 by Various
They consist of cells, single or grouped, which when spherical are called cocci, when rod-shaped, bacilli, when spiral, spirilla.
From Essays In Pastoral Medicine by Austin ?Malley
Examination of the blood prior to the invasion does not discover any spirilla.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
Then we have spiro-bacteria, the spirilla and the spirochetæ; the former having short open spirals, the latter long and closely wound spirals.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 787, January 31, 1891 by Various
From carious teeth may be isolated streptothrix, leptothrix, spirilla and fusiform bacilli.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 "Diameter" to "Dinarchus" by Various
He asserts that examinations of the blood during such post-critical febrile rebounds invariably showed an absence of spirilla, so that in his opinion such fever must be considered non-specific.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
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.
