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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
Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Mar. 2026
The Evo2 model was trained on 9 trillion DNA letters much as other AIs train on internet text, and when given a chunk of a microbe’s genome, was able to create a plausible-looking version of the rest.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 6 Mar. 2026
Organic fertilizers also add microbes to the soil that boost worm growth and improve the physical structure of the soil.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 6 Mar. 2026
The key may lie in how simple microbes adapted to the presence of oxygen.
—CNN Money, 5 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Microbe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microbe. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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microbe
noun
Medical Definition
microbe
noun
