FLAGELLUM (flagella)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: flagella   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flagellum mean? 

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

1. a whip used to inflict punishment (often used for pedantic humor)

2. a lash-like appendage used for locomotion (e.g., in sperm cells and some bacteria and protozoa)

  Familiarity information: FLAGELLUM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLAGELLUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A whip used to inflict punishment (often used for pedantic humor)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

flagellum; scourge

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

whip (an instrument with a handle and a flexible lash that is used for whipping)

Derivation:

flagellate (whip)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A lash-like appendage used for locomotion (e.g., in sperm cells and some bacteria and protozoa)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

appendage; outgrowth; process (a natural prolongation or projection from a part of an organism either animal or plant)

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

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

sperm; sperm cell; spermatozoan; spermatozoon (the male reproductive cell; the male gamete)

Derivation:

flagellate (a usually nonphotosynthetic free-living protozoan with whiplike appendages; some are pathogens of humans and other animals)

 Context examples 

They are motile, with either uni- or bi-polar flagella and are oxidase-positive.

(Campylobacter, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile with a single flagellum at each pole, non-spore forming, oxidase positive, and does not hydrolyze hippurate.

(Campylobacter coli, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile using a peritrichous flagella, non-spore forming, oxidase negative, catalase positive, ferments sugar, reduces nitrate, and hydrolyzes esculin.

(Buttiauxella agrestis, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is non-spore forming, non-encapsulated, oxidase and indole negative, catalase positive, reduces nitrates, hydrolyzes urea, but not esculin and is motile using a peritrichous flagella however, some strains can be nonmotile.

(Budvicia aquatica, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile using a singular polar flagellum, oxidase and catalase positive, indole negative, hydrolyzes esculin, but does not reduce nitrates.

(Brevundimonas vesicularis, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile using a single polar flagellum, non-spore forming, oxidase positive, catalase negative and produces both formate and acetate.

(Campylobacter curvus, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile using a single polar flagellum, oxidase positive, catalase positive, indole negative, reduces nitrates, and does not produce hydrogen sulfide.

(Campylobacter fetus, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile by peritrichous flagella, dimethyl reductase and arginine dehydrolase positive, indole variable and does not produce acid from salicin or sucrose.

(Citrobacter braakii, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile using peritrichous flagella, non-spore forming, indole and urease negative, noncapsulated, produces a yellow pigment, liquefies gelatin, reduces nitrate, hydrolyzes esculin, and is Voges-Proskauer reaction positive.

(Pantoea agglomerans, NCI Thesaurus)

This species is motile using a single polar or bipolar flagellum, non-spore forming, oxidase positive, catalase negative, reduces nitrate, but not nitrite, and does not hydrolyze hippurate nor produce hydrogen sulfide.

(Campylobacter upsaliensis, NCI Thesaurus)