amoeba
/əˈmiːbə
/(US also ameba)
noun (plural amoebas or amoebae /əˈmiːbiː/)
A single-celled animal which catches food and moves about by extending finger-like projections of protoplasm. Amoebas are either free-living in damp environments or parasitic.
- Many families and genera in the phylum Rhizopoda, kingdom Protista, including the aquatic Amoeba proteus.
- Contact with protozoa, the tremendously varied group of more sophisticated single-celled microbes that includes amoeba and paramecium, has also been greatly reduced in the developed world by water and food treatment measures.
- The virus lives in single-celled organisms called amoebae and may be able to infect humans.
Derivatives
amoebic
/ adjective ...- Fever is the presenting symptom in 10 to 15 percent of patients, and therefore amebic abscess should be considered in patients with a fever of unknown origin.
- Elsewhere, amoebic abscesses are more common, and, worldwide, amoebae are the commonest cause.
- If you develop an amoebic liver abscess and have not responded well to antibiotic treatment after seven days, or there is a high risk that the abscess may rupture, your doctor may suggest a small operation to drain the abscess.
amoeboid
/ adjective ...- Capable of ameboid movement, these cells wander throughout the connective tissue and congregate in regions requiring their specialized function.
- Then, a bridge-like conjugation tube is formed to connect neighboring cells, and the amoeboid cells from one filament move over into the neighboring filament.
- In these he developed a highly distinctive repertoire of weird subjects - strange amoeboid creatures, insects, and plants with human heads - influenced by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe.
Origin
Mid 19th century: modern Latin, from Greek amoibē 'change, alternation'.