human papillomavirus

noun

Definition of human papillomavirus

: any of numerous papillomaviruses (as of the genera Alphapapillomavirus, Betapapillomavirus, and Gammapapillomavirus) that cause various human papillomas (such as genital warts and plantar warts) and include some associated with the production of human cancer —abbreviation HPV

Examples of human papillomavirus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This won’t protect you from all STIs, since infections like herpes and human papillomavirus can be transmitted via intimate skin-to-skin contact. — Carolyn L. Todd, SELF, "9 Small but Impactful Health Habits to Lock Down in Your 20s," 19 Apr. 2019 Scientific Reports this morning retracted a controversial paper claiming to show that mice given a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine showed signs of neurological damage. — Dennis Normile, Science | AAAS, "Journal retracts paper claiming neurological damage from HPV vaccine," 11 May 2018 Plantar warts: These growths happen when human papillomavirus (HPV) enters your body through an opening in the skin on the bottom of your foot, the Mayo Clinic says. — Korin Miller, SELF, "Um, Do You Actually Need to Wash Your Feet?," 14 Mar. 2019 Cancers of the brain and other nervous system, soft tissue, and oropharyngeal cancers linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) also increased. — Korin Miller, SELF, "Cancer Deaths Have Declined 27 Percent in 25 Years, But Not Everyone Is Seeing the Same Benefit," 8 Jan. 2019 For example, human papillomavirus, which causes nearly all cases of cervical cancers, does its dirty work by integrating its genes into the chromosomes of cervical cells, ultimately causing cancer. — David P. Barash, WSJ, "‘The Tangled Tree’ Review: From Tiny Seeds," 9 Aug. 2018 Every year, nearly 34,000 cases of cancer in the US can be attributed to HPV, the human papillomavirus . — Cathleen O'grady, Ars Technica, "Cultural barriers still stand in the way of HPV vaccine uptake," 4 Nov. 2018 Oftentimes, cancer is caused by infectious viruses such as hepatitis B and human papillomavirus, which can be prevented with a vaccine. — Molly Sullivan, sacbee, "How do you get a skeptical patient to test for cancer? UCD, health center target cultural barriers," 2 June 2018 Since 2006, the vaccine for human papillomavirus — the leading cause of a number of cancers — has been available. — Anna Groves, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Want to prevent your children from getting cancer? Doctors push HPV vaccine," 9 July 2018

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about human papillomavirus

Dictionary Entries near human papillomavirus

Statistics for human papillomavirus

Last Updated

8 Jun 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for human papillomavirus

The first known use of human papillomavirus was in 1952

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for human papillomavirus

human papillomavirus

noun

Medical Definition of human papillomavirus

: a double-stranded DNA virus of the genus Papillomavirus (species Human papillomavirus) that has numerous genotypes causing various human warts (as the common warts of the extremities, plantar warts, and genital warts) including some associated with the production of cervical cancer

— called also HPV