: one of the asexually produced individuals of a compound organism (such as a bryozoan, siphonophore, or coral colony)
Examples of zooid in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The specialized animals are called zooids and are genetically identical but each serve a different function for survival, such as floating, catching prey or reproduction, NOAA says.
—
Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 20 June 2025
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Sean Greene LOS ANGELES TIMES
What looks like an individual Velella velella is actually a colony of teeny multicellular animals, or zooids, each with their own function, that come together to make a single organism.
—Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024
What looks like an individual Velella velella is actually a colony of teeny multicellular animals, or zooids, each with their own function, that come together to make a single organism.
—Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024
Siphonophores are colonial organisms consisting of numerous individual parts known as zooids.
—Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 20 Mar. 2024
While the zooids in charge of movement maneuver the siphonophore into the perfect position for finding food, the zooids in charge of predation are armed with fluorescent tentacles that twitch and flash to attract prey.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 28 Aug. 2023
These structures are composed of chains of several sorts of zooids, including transparent, tentacled zooids that are specialized for snatching food, and they are attached to globular, gelatinous floats filled with gas.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 28 Aug. 2023
Each siphonophore is a colony of individual zooids, clusters of cells that clone themselves thousands of times to produce an extended, stringlike body.
—Devi Lockwood, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2020
The creatures, made up of individual zooids -- small, multicellular organisms -- normally reside in warmer waters, like the tropics, and usually don't travel farther north than the waters off southern California.
—Ted Sickinger, OregonLive.com, 22 Apr. 2018
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Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 20 June 2025
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Sean Greene LOS ANGELES TIMES
What looks like an individual Velella velella is actually a colony of teeny multicellular animals, or zooids, each with their own function, that come together to make a single organism.
—Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024
What looks like an individual Velella velella is actually a colony of teeny multicellular animals, or zooids, each with their own function, that come together to make a single organism.
—Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024
Siphonophores are colonial organisms consisting of numerous individual parts known as zooids.
—Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 20 Mar. 2024
While the zooids in charge of movement maneuver the siphonophore into the perfect position for finding food, the zooids in charge of predation are armed with fluorescent tentacles that twitch and flash to attract prey.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 28 Aug. 2023
These structures are composed of chains of several sorts of zooids, including transparent, tentacled zooids that are specialized for snatching food, and they are attached to globular, gelatinous floats filled with gas.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 28 Aug. 2023
Each siphonophore is a colony of individual zooids, clusters of cells that clone themselves thousands of times to produce an extended, stringlike body.
—Devi Lockwood, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2020
The creatures, made up of individual zooids -- small, multicellular organisms -- normally reside in warmer waters, like the tropics, and usually don't travel farther north than the waters off southern California.
—Ted Sickinger, OregonLive.com, 22 Apr. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Zooid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zooid. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
zooid
noun
zo·oid
ˈzō-ˌȯid 
: one of the asexually produced individuals of a compound organism (as a coral colony)
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