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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
Jordi Lippe-McGraw, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2025
Indoor microbes like bacteria and fungi aren’t inherently bad.
—Matt Fuchs, Time, 28 July 2025
Fiber also feeds the good bacteria in the gut microbiome (the community of microbes in your gut).
—Amber J. Tresca, Verywell Health, 18 July 2025
Potential microbes could survive the dry periods there and move up to the surface to live in the lakes during brief periods of habitability.
—ArsTechnica, 13 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for microbe
Cite this Entry
“Microbe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microbe. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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microbe
noun
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microbe
noun
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