PILUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pilus mean? 

• PILUS (noun)
  The noun PILUS has 2 senses:

1. any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal

2. hairlike structure especially on the surface of a cell or microorganism

  Familiarity information: PILUS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PILUS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

hair; pilus

Context example:

there is a hair in my soup

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

filament; filum (a threadlike structure (as a chainlike series of cells))

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

ingrown hair (a hair that does not emerge from the follicle but remains embedded in the skin (usually causing inflammation))

Holonyms ("pilus" is a part of...):

mammal; mammalian (any warm-blooded vertebrate having the skin more or less covered with hair; young are born alive except for the small subclass of monotremes and nourished with milk)

Derivation:

pilar (of or relating to a hair)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hairlike structure especially on the surface of a cell or microorganism

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

hair (a filamentous projection or process on an organism)

Holonyms ("pilus" is a part of...):

micro-organism; microorganism (any organism of microscopic size)

 Context examples 

This species develops flagella and pili based on its environmental needs.

(Escherichia coli strain O157:H7, NCI Thesaurus)

The lower portion of a hair follicle from the base of the bulb to the arrector pili muscle.

(Hair Follicle Inferior Segment, NCI Thesaurus)

A benign smooth muscle neoplasm arising from the arrector pili muscle, tunica media of blood vessels, and dartos muscle of the genitalia.

(Cutaneous Leiomyoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A cutaneous leiomyoma arising from the arrector pili muscle.

(Pilar Leiomyoma, NCI Thesaurus)

This serotype differs from other pathogenic E. coli as it is negative for invasiveness (Sereny test), adheres through E. coli common pilus, and doesn't produce heat stable or heat labile toxins.

(Escherichia coli strain O157:H7, NCI Thesaurus)