Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various slender, spiral, motile bacteria of the order Spirochaetales, many of which are pathogenic, causing syphilis, relapsing fever, yaws, and other diseases.
Wiktionary
- n. any of several coiled bacteria, of the order Spirochaetales, most of which are pathogenic to both humans and animals
WordNet 3.0
- n. parasitic or free-living bacteria; many pathogenic to humans and other animals
Etymologies
- New Latin Spīrochaeta, genus name : Latin spīra, coil; see spire2 + New Latin chaeta, bristle, hair; see chaeta. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Syphilis is caused by an organism called Treponema pallidum, which is a type of bacterium called a spirochete, and is characterised by three stages: primary syphilis, secondary syphilis and tertiary syphilis.”
“Caused by the bacteria known as a spirochete (the same bacteria that causes syphilis), it is contracted by drinking water contaminated with animal urine.”
“She thinks the flagellum came about by symbiogenesis of a spirochete with another bacteria.”
“Perhaps their two functioning brain cells are held together by a spirochete? —”
Think Progress » Palin bars media from two upcoming Florida events.
“Perhaps their two functioning brain cells are held together by a spirochete?”
Think Progress » Palin bars media from two upcoming Florida events.
“Damn spirochete tries to kick my ass, I will kick its ass.”
“The logic was circular, the language tethered only to itself, not to something as solid as a spirochete or a bacillus.”
“Because it vaguely resembled the spiraling trypanosomes, it made sense to see whether compound 418, which had killed those germs so well, would also attack the syphilis spirochete.”
“Lyme disease is cause by a spirochete, and it is quite sensitive to amoxicillin.”
“Some bacteria are corkscrew-shaped, like the spirochete Treponema pallidum, but macroscopic organisms with corkscrew tails are rare indeed.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘spirochete’.
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Worse Than They Sound
fistula, cryptosporidium, debride, donnybrook, decerebrate, pillory, flagellate, disembogue, minatory, micturate, coprolite, nosocomial and 160 more...
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slumry's Words
cattywampus, ingratiate, lackadaisical, exactitude, exfoliate, fulminate, circumnavigation, circuitous, debride, sidle, sequester, chicory and 1002 more...
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Chained Bear's Favorite Words
peruvian, sparky, poop, etymological, fuck, whatnot, pulchritude, nosh, tetched, quotidian, squalid, trajectory and 388 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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spiro-
spiral or in a spiral
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Addenda to the 1923 Printing of Webst...
Many of these words first came into common usage during World War I, and reflect not only the technological and scientific leaps of the early part of the 20th century, but the new experience of glo...
abri, ace, acidosis, airdrome, air fleet, airplane, air raid, airworthy, altimeter, anaphylaxis, anociassociation, anti-aircraft and 292 more...
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Underworld
Don DeLillo
roily, reverie, slidy, bandido, mohair, brilliantine, stupe, juke step, jowly, juke, wicket, quidbit and 391 more...
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New words, not to be confused with th...
maladroit, aphasia, delphinium, bromide, greenhorn, just deserts, loth, supplanted, steeplechase, steeple, annex, vestments and 236 more...
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Critters
cockle, cicada, appaloosa, brachiopod, bivalve, aye-aye, cygnet, alewife, chamois, ermine, drake, dugong and 381 more...
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new acquisitions
found in the wild (i.e., not on Wordie!)
samara, indehiscent, paschal, rogation, wen, rete, diriment, epicene, duramen, euhemerism, objurgate, canaille and 429 more...
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Buggin' out
bacteria, antibiotic, spirochete, anthrax, gram positive, gram negative, tuberculosis, bacillus, typhus, rickettsia prowaz..., orientia tsutsuga..., vaccine and 24 more...
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Manimal_Farmer's Words
effluvium, timbre, svelte, expunge, mandingo, ornery, philistine, hoobajoo, caterwaul, ouster, shiksappeal, abscond and 45 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for spirochete.
reesetee Oh, yes. Good catch. :-) May 23, 2008
chained_bear reesetee, this one is definitely worse than it sounds, no? It's an awfully pretty word for such a nasty thing. May 23, 2008