zooid
Americannoun
-
any organic body or cell capable of spontaneous movement and of an existence more or less apart from or independent of the parent organism.
-
any animal organism or individual capable of separate existence, and produced by fission, gemmation, or some method other than direct sexual reproduction.
-
any one of the recognizably distinct individuals or elements of a compound or colonial animallike organism, whether or not detached or detachable.
adjective
noun
-
any independent animal body, such as an individual of a coelenterate colony
-
a motile cell or body, such as a gamete, produced by an organism
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of zooid
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 most simple form of budding is found in the genus Cornularia, in which the mother zooid gives off from its base one or more simple radiciform outgrowths.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various
Each zooid has six tentacles; the stomodaeum is elongate, but the sulcus and sulculus are very feebly represented.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various
In the Tubipondae the spicules of the proximal part of the body-wall are fused together to form a firm tube, the corallite, into which the distal part of the zooid can be retracted.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various
From this bud is developed the first zooid and first serial theca of the colony.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various
In the order Stelechotokea the colony consists of a stem formed by a greatly-elongated mother zooid, and the daughter zooids are borne as lateral buds on the stem.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" 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.
