germnoun
uk/dʒɜːm/us/dʒɝːm/germ noun (ORGANISM)
C1 [ C usually plural ] a very small organism that causes disease:
Wash your hands so you don't get germs on the food.
Rats and flies spread germs.
More examples
- It says on the bottle that it kills all known germs.
- In warm weather these germs multiply rapidly.
- Cover your nose when you sneeze - we don't want all your germs!
- I dread to think how many germs are living in that filthy kitchen.
- Germs can be spread very easily in hospitals unless there are strict hygiene rules in place.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Bacteria, moulds, germs & viruses
- adenovirus
- antimicrobial
- bacteriology
- bacteriophage
- C. difficile
- E. coli
- fungal
- fungoid
- fungus
- HIV-positive
- listeria
- microbe
- microorganism
- mould
- organism
- probiotic
- shitake mushroom
- taenia
- West Nile virus
- yeast
See more results »
germ noun (AMOUNT)
germ of sth C2 [ S ]
a small amount, usually one that develops into something large or important:
He found the germ of an idea in an old newspaper.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Words meaning small pieces and amounts
- by a nose idiom
- chip
- clipping
- crumb
- dollop
- droplet
- flake
- jot
- nose
- pat
- patch
- pennyworth
- pinpoint
- pinprick
- ray
- scattering
- scintilla
- shadow
- shard
- shred
See more results »