biofilmn.
/ˈbʌɪəʊfɪlm/, U.S. /ˈbaɪoʊˌfɪlm/ Biology and Medicine.
A thin but robust layer of mucilage adhering to a solid surface, containing the community of bacteria and other microorganisms that generated it. Also as a mass noun: mucilage of this kind.
ΚΠ
1975 Brit. Patent 1,408,235 2/1 The immersion of the bulk of the hollow bodies in the water during the continuous rotation of the filter ensures a complete humidification of the entire biofilm formed on the hollow bodies.
1991 Lancet 5 Jan. 23/1 Biofilm is found in large amounts in effluents of patients with peritonitis.
1995 L. Garrett Coming Plague (new ed.) vi. 190 One tap water study showed Legionella could survive over a year inside pipe biofilms, emerging in wholly infectious form once the faucet was turned on full force.
2006 Wellness Options 15 Aug. 5/2 The mucus biofilm on the lining of our gut wall offers numerous ecological advantages to intestinal bacteria.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1975