slime mold

noun

: 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

Examples of slime mold in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Previously, researchers had only observed slime molds, fire ants and spider mites naturally assemble into such structures. —Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 June 2025

Technology And Urban Planning Inspired By Slime Mold Humans are being inspired by slime mold's strategic mastery. —Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025

However, understanding how cell metabolism is translated into a developmental signal in organisms more complex than slime molds had taken decades of work. —Viviane Callier, Quanta Magazine, 21 Mar. 2025

Branching also shows up in ant foraging patterns, slime molds and cities. —Mitchell Newberry, The Conversation, 11 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1880, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for slime mold

• copyhold
• decontrolled
• hundredfold
• manifold
• marigold
• oversold
• petioled
• sevenfold
• stranglehold
• subthreshold
• thousandfold
• uncontrolled

Kids Definition

slime mold

noun

: either of two groups of organisms that reproduce by spores and form slimy masses composed of amoeboid cells that fuse to form a giant cell with many nuclei or that gather tightly together without fusing

Medical Definition

slime mold

noun

: any organism of the group Myxomycetes

called also myxomycete