View synonyms for amoeba

amoeba

[ uh-mee-buh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural a·moe·bas, a·moe·bae [uh, -, mee, -bee].

amoeba

/ əˈmiːbə /

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

amoeba

/ ə-mē′bə /

, Plural amoebas 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.

amoeba

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

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

Origin of amoeba¹

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

The amœba and creatures like it live immersed in water; man, at the bottom of an ocean of air.

Both move in their own medium, the amœba creeping with extreme slowness, man moving with a speed incalculably greater.

This latter is to the cells of any tissue, as a muscle, as is the water filled with the food on which an amœba lives.

Although but a single cell, still the amœba appears to be aware of the existence of food when it is near at hand.

When conditions unfavorable for life come, the amœba, like some one-celled plants, encysts itself within a membranous wall.

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