Microbe Meaning
/ˈmaɪkɹəʊb/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny microorganism; (loosely, nonscientifically) especially, a harmful bacterium.
Sentence Examples
The man is also a stubborn microbe.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor found a harmful ____ in the patient's blood sample which caused the infection.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The researcher discovered a new type of soil ____ that could potentially be used to help clean up polluted industrial sites.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French microbe, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) and βίος (bíos, “life”). By surface analysis, micro- + -obe.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"We humans and other complex animals are full of microbes, gajillions of them. People have so many that microbe cells living in our bodies outnumber our own vastly."
— 2015 March 13, Ben Brumfield, “You may be your germs: Microbe genes slipped into human DNA, study says”, in CNN, archived from the original on 13 Jan 2018:
"Yes, there are microbes everywhere and most are just fine for us, perhaps even beneficial to our microbiomes and immune systems. We don’t care about those."
— 2019 October 7, Sandee LaMotte, “The germiest place in your home and the best way to combat those microbes”, in CNN, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2023:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor found a harmful ____ in the patient's blood sample which caused the infection.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The researcher discovered a new type of soil ____ that could potentially be used to help clean up polluted industrial sites.