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A hint of the Greek word bios, meaning "life", can be seen in microbe. Microbes, or microorganisms, include bacteria, protozoa, fungi, algae, amoebas, and slime molds. Many people think of microbes as simply the causes of disease, but every human is actually the host to billions of microbes, and most of them are essential to our life. Much research is now going into possible microbial sources of future energy; algae looks particularly promising, as do certain newly discovered or created microbes that can produce cellulose, to be turned into ethanol and other biofuels.
Examples of microbe in a Sentence
Cynthia Sass, Health, 21 Oct. 2025
But as the microbes spread across the screen, the visual becomes almost hypnotic—and, as Peck recently told me, akin to how dictators overwhelm people’s abilities to determine fact from fiction.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2025
The probiotics help support gut health by promoting a balanced microbiome, the community of microbes that live in your digestive tract and influence digestion, immunity, and mood.
—Lauren Panoff, Verywell Health, 20 Oct. 2025
The study's findings also suggest that microbiome serotonin synthesis may require two or more bacteria and microbe-microbe interactions, which now requires further investigation.
—New Atlas, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for microbe
Cite this Entry
“Microbe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microbe. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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microbe
noun
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microbe
noun
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