BACILLUS (bacilli)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: bacilli   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bacillus mean? 

• BACILLUS (noun)
  The noun BACILLUS has 1 sense:

1. aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil

  Familiarity information: BACILLUS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BACILLUS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

B; bacillus

Hypernyms ("bacillus" is a kind of...):

eubacteria; eubacterium; true bacteria (a large group of bacteria having rigid cell walls; motile types have flagella)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bacillus"):

anthrax bacillus; Bacillus anthracis (a species of bacillus that causes anthrax in humans and in animals (cattle and swine and sheep and rabbits and mice and guinea pigs); can be used a bioweapon)

Bacillus globigii; Bacillus subtilis; grass bacillus; hay bacillus (a species of bacillus found in soil and decomposing organic matter; some strains produce antibiotics)

Yersinia pestis (a bacillus bacterium that causes the plague; aerosolized bacteria can be used as a bioweapon)

Holonyms ("bacillus" is a member of...):

genus Bacillus (type genus of the Bacillaceae; includes many saprophytes important in decay of organic matter and a number of parasites)

Derivation:

bacillary (formed like a bacillus)

bacillary (relating to or produced by or containing bacilli)

 Context examples 

Cefamandole is active against Haemophilus and gram-negative bacilli susceptible to other cephalosporins.

(Cefamandole, NCI Thesaurus)

A fourth-generation, parenteral cephalosporin with strong activity against glucose non-fermentative bacillus bacteria, but is ineffective against gram-positive cocci.

(Cefclidin, NCI Thesaurus)

A genus of facultatively aerobic, Gram-positive, bacilli assigned to the phylum Actinobacteria and the family Cellulomonadaceae.

(Cellulomonas, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of facultatively anaerobic, Gram-negative, straight bacilli assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria.

(Cardiobacterium hominis, NCI Thesaurus)

A genus of facultatively anaerobic, Gram-negative, straight bacilli assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria and the family Cardiobacteriaceae.

(Cardiobacterium, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of microaerophilic, Gram-negative, curved or spiral bacilli assigned to the phylum Proteobacteria.

(Campylobacter coli, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of facultatively anaerobic, Gram-negative, fusiform, filamentous bacilli assigned to the phylum Bacteroidetes.

(Capnocytophaga canimorsus, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of facultatively aerobic, Gram-positive, bacilli assigned to the phylum Actinobacteria.

(Cellulomonas hominis, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, Gram-positive, coryneform, pleomorphic bacilli assigned to the phylum Actinobacteria.

(Corynebacterium accolens, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of oxidase-negative Gram-negative bacillus bacteria in the Enterobacteriaceae family with anaerobic respiration.

(Morganella morganii, NCI Thesaurus)