amoeba

amoeba or ameba (əˈmiːbə)

—n , pl -bae, -bas
	any protozoan of the phylum Rhizopoda, esp any of the genus Amoeba, able to change shape because of the movements of cell processes (pseudopodia). They live in fresh water or soil or as parasites in man and animals

[C19: from New Latin, from Greek amoibē change, from ameibein to change, exchange]

ameba or ameba (əˈmiːbə, -biː)

—n

[C19: from New Latin, from Greek amoibē change, from ameibein to change, exchange]

a'moebic or ameba

—*adj*

a'mebic or ameba

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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00:10

Amoeba is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

amoeba

1855, from Mod.L. genus name (1841), from Gk. amoibe "change," related to ameibein "to change, exchange," from PIE *e-meigw-, extended form of base *mei- "to change, go, move" (see mutable). So called for its constantly changing shape.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

amoeba a·moe·ba (ə-mē'bə)
n.
Variant of ameba.

Amoeba A·moe·ba (ə-mē'bə)
n. pl. a·moe·bas or a·moe·bae (-bē)

A genus of protozoa of the class Sarcodina or Rhizopoda.
Any of several genera of protozoa that are parasitic in humans, especially Entamoeba.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage

Science Dictionary

amoeba

(ə-mē'bə) Pronunciation Key
Plural amoebas or amoebae (ə-mē'bē)
Any of various one-celled aquatic or parasitic protozoans of the genus Amoeba or related genera, having no definite form and consisting of a mass of protoplasm containing one or more nuclei surrounded by a flexible outer membrane. Amoebas move by means of pseudopods.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

amoeba [(uh-mee-buh)]

An animal composed of only one cell that has no fixed shape. It is the best known of the single-celled animals, or protozoa.

Note: The term amoeba is sometimes used to refer to something with an indefinite, changeable shape.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary

amoeba

n. Humorous term for the Commodore Amiga personal computer.

Jargon
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FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

Amoeba definition

1. A distributed operating system developed by Andrew S. Tanenbaum and others of Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Amoeba is only available under licence from the VUA, but is free of charge and includes all source, binaries and documentation.
(http://am.cs.vu.nl/).
[Features?]
2. A derogatory term for Commodore's Amiga personal computer.
[Jargon File]
(1997-05-07)

Example sentences

In fact, the average one-celled amoeba looks far perkier under a microscope than a fertilized human egg.

They extend a pseudopod in the direction they wish to travel, and the rest of the amoeba then flows forward into the pseudopod.

The boys sit out beside the sea while the chief lectures them on the merciless

nobility of the amoeba.

Among his discoveries was that nonparasitic amoeba can fatally infect the

brains of humans.

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Related Words

ameba

protean

Matching Quote

"An amoeba is a formless thing which takes many shapes. It moves by thrusting out an arm, and flowing into the arm. It multiplies by pulling itself in two, without permanently diminishing the original. So with words. A meaning may develop on the periphery of the body of meanings associated with a word, and shortly this tentacle-meaning has grown to such proportions that it dwarfs all other meanings."

-Charlton Laird