spore

¹spore

noun \ˈspȯr\

Definition of SPORE

: a primitive usually unicellular often environmentally resistant dormant or reproductive body produced by plants, fungi, and some microorganisms and capable of development into a new individual either directly or after fusion with another spore

— spored \ˈspȯrd\ adjective

Origin of SPORE

New Latin spora seed, spore, from Greek, act of sowing, seed, from speirein to sow — more at sperm

First Known Use: 1836

Rhymes with SPORE

boar, Boer, bore, chore, cor, core, corps, crore, door, floor, for, fore, four, frore, gore, Gore, hoar, lore, mor, more, nor, o'er, oar, or, ore, poor, pore, pour, roar, score, shore, snore, soar, sore, splore, spoor, store, Thor, tor, torr, war, whore, yore, your

²spore

intransitive verb

sporedspor·ing

Definition of SPORE

: to produce or reproduce by spores

First Known Use of SPORE

1866

spore

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Reproductive cell capable of developing into a new individual without fusing with another reproductive cell. Spores thus differ from gametes, which must fuse in pairs in order to create a new individual. Spores are agents of nonsexual reproduction; gametes are agents of sexual reproduction. Spores are produced by bacteria, fungi (see fungus), and green plants. Bacterial spores serve largely as a resting, or dormant, stage in the life cycle, preserving the bacterium through periods of unfavorable conditions. Many bacterial spores are highly durable and can germinate even after years of dormancy. Fungal spores serve a function similar to that of seeds in plants; they germinate and grow into new individuals under suitable conditions of moisture, temperature, and food availability. Among green plants (all of which have a life cycle characterized by alternation of generations), spores are the reproductive agents of the nonsexual generation (sporophyte), giving rise to the sexual generation (gametophyte).