slime mold

noun

Definition of slime mold

: any of a group (such as Myxomycetes) of organisms formerly held to be lower fungi but now often considered protists that exist vegetatively in usually moist habitats as mobile plasmodia and reproduce by spores

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Specifically, the Physarum polycephalum slime mold. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "A Single Cell Hints at a Solution to the Biggest Problem in Computer Science," 27 Dec. 2018 These skills let slime molds do impressively well at some human tasks. — Michael Greshko, National Geographic, "Brainless Creatures Can Do Some Incredibly Smart Things," 21 May 2018 Scientists have shown that slime molds also exhibit rudimentary learning behavior. — Eoin O'carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, "What slime molds can teach us about thinking," 12 Apr. 2018 Some scientists suggest that slime mold behavior may even shed light on the origins of intelligence. — Eoin O'carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, "What slime molds can teach us about thinking," 12 Apr. 2018 This eeriness is particularly visual in time lapse photography, where the horror movie-like crawl of the slime mold happens instantaneously. — Sophie Weiner, Popular Mechanics, "Watch the Strange Intelligence of Slime Mold in This 'Slime Lapse' Video," 11 Nov. 2016 For the morning glory that spreads its petals at dawn, for geese flying south in autumn, for locusts swarming every 17 years and even for lowly slime molds sporing in daily cycles, timing is everything. — Karen Wright, Scientific American, "Biological Clocks Operate on Many Scales," 21 Jan. 2012 All the dancers now swarmed like a slime mold’s amoebas over the cars and their contents. — Nisi Shawl, Slate Magazine, "“Slippernet”," 22 Feb. 2017

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

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slime mold

noun

Medical Definition of slime mold

: any organism of the group Myxomycetes

— called also myxomycete

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