[uh-mee-buh] 
[-bee] . | 1. | any of numerous freshwater, marine, or parasitic one-celled protozoa of the order Amoebida, characterized by a granular nucleus surrounded by a jellylike mass of cytoplasm that forms temporary extensions, or pseudopodia, by which the organism moves, engulfs food particles, and forms food vacuoles. |
| 2. | a protozoan of the genus Amoeba, inhabiting bottom vegetation of freshwater ponds and streams: used widely in laboratory studies. |
change, alternation, akin to ameíbein to exchange
| a·me·ba (ə-mē'bə) n. Variant of amoeba. |
| a·moe·ba also a·me·ba (ə-mē'bə) n. pl. a·moe·bas also a·me·bas or a·moe·bae also a·me·bae (-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. It moves by means of pseudopods. [New Latin, genus name, from Greek amoibē, change, from ameibein, to change; see mei-1 in Indo-European roots.] a·moe'bic (-bĭk) adj. |
ameba a·me·ba or amoeba (ə-mē'bə)
n. pl. a·me·bas or a·me·bae (-bē)
A protozoa of the genus Amoeba and of related genera, occurring in soil and water and parasitic in animals.