bacillusnoun [ C ]
uk/bəˈsɪl.əs/us/bəˈsɪl.əs/plural bacilli uk/-aɪ/usspecializeda bacterium (= an extremely small organism) that is shaped like a rod. There are various types of bacillus, some of which can cause disease.
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
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Examples from literature
- He experimented with anthrax bacilli in water to which iodine was added, and the bacilli were destroyed.
- Hog-cholera bacilli can live in the ground for at least three months.
- The so-called cholera bacillus must gain access to the intestinal tract before it finds conditions suitable to colonization.
- Tuberculosis, tetanus, anthrax, and many other surgical diseases are due to different forms of bacilli.
- When these dead, or half-dead, bacilli are injected into the system, they stir up the body to produce promptly large amounts of its antitoxin.