bacterial

adjective

bac·te·ri·al | \ bak-ˈtir-ē-əl

Definition of bacterial

: of, relating to, or caused by bacteria bacterial infection

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Tonsil cancer can cause difficulty swallowing and a feeling like something is caught in your throat, the Mayo Clinic says, but those are also pretty standard for a sore throat related to a minor viral or bacterial illness. — Korin Miller, SELF, "This Country Singer’s Sore Throat Turned Out to Be a Sign of Cancer," 24 Jan. 2019 Along with being an insecticide, the product is a virucide, bactericide (and inhibits bacterial growth), sanitizer and deodorant, mildewcide and fungicide. — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, "How to Get Rid of Bedbugs Once and For All," 6 Nov. 2018 Conventional antibodies excel at sticking to flat surfaces on viral and bacterial molecules. — Mitch Leslie, Science | AAAS, "Mini-antibodies discovered in sharks and camels could lead to drugs for cancer and other diseases," 10 May 2018 Some diseases — both viral and bacterial — are known to spread from mice and other rodents to humans, including hantavirus, Lassa fever, and leptospirosis, often when the animals’ feces or urine contaminates people’s food. — Andrew Joseph, STAT, "Germs carried by New York’s mice are plentiful, and some have antibiotic-resistance genes," 17 Apr. 2018 The germs that cause viral and bacterial tonsillitis are contagious. — Philly.com, "Teens and their tonsils: When do they need to be out?," 1 Mar. 2018 The Spanish flu infected the upper respiratory tract and then dove deep into the lungs with viral or bacterial pneumonia. — Ashley Halsey Iii, Washington Post, "The flu can kill tens of millions of people. In 1918, that’s exactly what it did.," 27 Jan. 2018 Her family took her to the hospital, where x-rays revealed pneumonia: inflammation in the lungs that can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection, or both. — Ferris Jabr, Scientific American, "How Does the Flu Actually Kill People?," 18 Dec. 2017 The gene blasting approach does too much damage to be effective, and plants are impressively resistant to bacterial infection. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "An Advance in Bioengineering Could Pave the Way for Tomorrow’s Superplants," 12 Mar. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bacterial.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.