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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
Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 8 July 2024
Halleck adds coffee grounds need to be decomposed by microbes first to release nitrogen and other nutrients.
—Lauren David, Southern Living, 3 July 2024
The gut microbiome is the community of microbes (e.g., bacteria, fungi, viruses) in your GI system.
—Chelsea Rae Bourgeois, Rdn, Ld, Health, 1 July 2024
In other words, there’s a very small chance that human poop microbes could interfere with alien moon life.
—Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 28 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for microbe 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'microbe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near microbe
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“Microbe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microbe. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
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microbe
noun
Medical Definition
microbe
noun
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