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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
Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 21 Mar. 2026
The adaptation of Weir’s 2021 novel stars Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, the former middle school science teacher and sole survivor of a last-ditch effort mission to save humanity from sun-eating microbes.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 20 Mar. 2026
In it, light-eating alien microbes sap the sun’s energy, threatening life on Earth with extinction.
—Emma Gometz, Scientific American, 20 Mar. 2026
The sun is being devoured by energy-hungry microbes, called Astrophage, and the resulting cooling threatens to wipe out much of Earth’s population.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Microbe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microbe. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
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microbe
noun
Medical Definition
microbe
noun
