extremophile

noun

ex·trem·o·phile ik-ˈstrē-mə-ˌfī(-ə)l

: an organism that lives under extreme environmental conditions (as in a hot spring or ice cap)

Did you know?

No, an extremophile is not an enthusiast of extreme sports (though -phile does mean "one who loves or has an affinity for"). Rather, extremophiles are organisms—mostly microorganisms—that thrive in environments once considered uninhabitable, from places with high levels of toxicity and radiation to boiling-hot deep-sea volcanoes to Antarctic ice sheets. Scientists have even created a new biological domain to classify some of these extremophiles: Archaea (from Greek archaios, meaning "ancient"). These extremophiles may have a lot in common with the first organisms to appear on earth billions of years ago. If so, they can give us insight into how life on our planet may have arisen. They are also being studied to learn about possible life forms on other planets, where conditions are extreme compared to conditions on Earth.

Examples of extremophile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web What the alien soil needs is some Martian fertilizer, maybe made by adding extremophiles to it – hardy microbes imported from Earth that can survive even the harshest conditions. —

Sven Bilén, Discover Magazine, 17 July 2024 Life How tardigrades and other extremophiles adapt to alien-like environments At least one of Earth’s creatures is able to survive the vacuum of space. —

Big Think, 24 June 2024 And where there’s water and warmth, there will be extremophiles—tough little creatures that can thrive in desolate wastelands and temperatures that dip below zero. —

IEEE Spectrum, 31 Jan. 2011 Water bears aren’t actually extremophiles, more extremo-tolerant. —

Katie Liu, Discover Magazine, 14 Dec. 2023 See all Example Sentences for extremophile

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'extremophile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.