virus
an ultramicroscopic (20 to 300 nanometers in diameter), metabolically inert, infectious agent that replicates only within the cells of living hosts, mainly bacteria, plants, and animals: composed of an RNA or DNA core, a protein coat, and, in more complex types, a surrounding envelope.
a viral disease: He stayed home sick with a virus for nearly two weeks.
a corrupting influence on morals or the intellect; poison.
a segment of self-replicating code planted illegally in a computer program, often to damage or shut down a system or network.
Origin of virus
1Other words from virus
- vi·rus·like, adjective
- an·ti·vi·rus, adjective
Words Nearby virus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use virus in a sentence
By September 10, there was a 44 percent increase in the proportion of people over age 75 who have been diagnosed with the virus compared to the previous week.
These viruses circulate year-round in the tropics but are more common during the rainy season.
COVID-19 may one day come and go like the flu, but we’re not there yet | Kate Baggaley | September 16, 2020 | Popular-ScienceThat is when Eckard Wimmer, a virologist at Stony Brook University, caused a sensation by creating infectious polio virus starting from only genetic instructions.
Synthetic biologists have created a slow-growing version of the coronavirus to give as a vaccine | David Rotman | September 16, 2020 | MIT Technology Review“Once a cell is infected, it is completely taken over by the virus, producing an astonishing number of viruses,” Ehre says.
Lung cell images show how intense a coronavirus infection can be | Jonathan Lambert | September 15, 2020 | Science NewsBy April, waves of workers who debone chickens or carve up pork elbow-to-elbow with their co-workers were falling ill from the virus.
Emails Show the Meatpacking Industry Drafted an Executive Order to Keep Plants Open | by Michael Grabell and Bernice Yeung | September 14, 2020 | ProPublica
The vaccine is delivered through a “carrier virus” that causes a common cold in chimpanzees but does not affect humans.
He became delirious, his heartbeat grew ragged, his blood teemed with the virus, and his lungs, liver and kidneys began to fail.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, Dec 8-14, 2014 | William Boot | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBy May 27, five people had succumbed to the virus and 16 more were infected.
Jail Threats for Sierra Leone Ebola Victims’ Families | Abby Haglage | December 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe current FDA-approved measles vaccine consists of live but weakened measles virus that is injected into the arm.
Powdered Measles Vaccine Could Be Huge for Developing World | Kent Sepkowitz | December 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe fact that the virus is still alive has sustained many safety concerns, both rational and irrational, about its use.
Powdered Measles Vaccine Could Be Huge for Developing World | Kent Sepkowitz | December 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIf there is neuritis from the virus it becomes intense and causes muscular contractions, paresis, and paralysis.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine | Austin Malley(p. 442) But it was the more poisonous virus of Secession which finally laid their proud city low.
The Boys of '61 | Charles Carleton Coffin.The scientists of Sator knew that the virus was virulent; in fact, too virulent for its own good.
Islands of Space | John W CampbellThey knew that shortly after every Nansalian died, the virus, too, would be dead.
Islands of Space | John W CampbellIt killed the host every time, and the virus could not live outside a living cell.
Islands of Space | John W Campbell
British Dictionary definitions for virus
/ (ˈvaɪrəs) /
any of a group of submicroscopic entities consisting of a single nucleic acid chain surrounded by a protein coat and capable of replication only within the cells of living organisms: many are pathogenic
informal a disease caused by a virus
any corrupting or infecting influence
computing an unauthorized program that inserts itself into a computer system and then propagates itself to other computers via networks or disks; when activated it interferes with the operation of the computer
Origin of virus
1Derived forms of virus
- virus-like, adjective
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
Scientific definitions for virus
[ vī′rəs ]
Any of various extremely small, often disease-causing agents consisting of a particle (the virion), containing a segment of RNA or DNA within a protein coat known as a capsid. Viruses are not technically considered living organisms because they are devoid of biological processes (such as metabolism and respiration) and cannot reproduce on their own but require a living cell (of a plant, animal, or bacterium) to make more viruses. Viruses reproduce first either by injecting their genetic material into the host cell or by fully entering the cell and shedding their protein coat. The genetic material may then be incorporated into the cell's own genome or remain in the cytoplasm. Eventually the viral genes instruct the cell to produce new viruses, which often cause the cell to die upon their exit. Rather than being primordial forms of life, viruses probably evolved from rogue pieces of cellular nucleic acids. The common cold, influenza, chickenpox, smallpox, measles, mumps, yellow fever, hemorrhagic fevers, and some cancers are among the diseases caused by viruses.
Computer Science A computer program that duplicates itself in a manner that is harmful to normal computer use. Most viruses work by attaching themselves to another program. The amount of damage varies; viruses may erase all data or do nothing but reproduce themselves.
Other words from virus
- viral adjective
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for virus (1 of 3)
[ (veye-ruhs) ]
plur. viruses
Microorganisms consisting of DNA and RNA molecules wrapped in a protective coating of proteins. Viruses are the most primitive form of life. They depend on other living cells for their reproduction and growth. (See under “Medicine and Health.”)
Notes for virus
[ (veye-ruhs) ]
plur. viruses
A minute organism that consists of a core of nucleic acid surrounded by protein. Viruses, which are so small that a special kind of microscope is needed to view them, can grow and reproduce only inside living cells. (See under “Life Sciences.”)
See computer virus.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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