Germ
[dʒɜːm] or [dʒɝm]
Definition
(noun.) a small apparently simple structure (as a fertilized egg) from which new tissue can develop into a complete organism.
Typed by Ellie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) That which is to develop a new individual; as, the germ of a fetus, of a plant or flower, and the like; the earliest form under which an organism appears.
(n.) That from which anything springs; origin; first principle; as, the germ of civil liberty.
(v. i.) To germinate.
Checker: Velma
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Ovary, embryo, seed-bud, young bud.[2]. Origin, first principle.
Typist: Terrence
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Seed, nucleus, embryo, origin, bud
ANT:Fruit, development, result
Checked by Dolores
Definition
n. a rudimentary form of a living thing whether a plant or animal: (bot.) the seed-bud of a plant: a shoot: that from which anything springs the origin: a first principle.—v.i. to put forth buds sprout.—n. Germ′icide that which destroys germs.
Checker: Newman
Unserious Contents or Definition
A bit of animal life living in water.
Inputed by Donald
Examples
- They are partly facetious, but also contain a germ of truth. Plato. The Republic.
- Louis Pasteur’s work, however, marks the first definite and important results in the study of bacteriology, and he is the father of the germ theory of disease. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- You must, for you are in possession of the germ of a great invention. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Yet here was the germ of our native modern machine. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- My report was that the system was sound fundamentally, that it contained the germ of a good thing, but needed working out. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Does this League of Nations which has been created by the covenant of 1919 contain within it the germ of any permanent federation of human effort? H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Pasteur and others have discovered and explained the germ theory of disease and to what extent it is due to impure water. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The bedding and clothing of persons suffering with diphtheria, tuberculosis, and other germ diseases should always be boiled and hung to dry in the bright sunlight. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Well, my dear doubter, how do you know that fairy tales do not contain a germ of truth? Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Herein lay the germ of the Edison quadruplex. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- And what is an idea, if not the germ of action in the material world. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The presence of peculiar forms of these bacteria in diseases has so suggested the relation of cause and effect as to have given rise to the so-called germ theory of disease. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Contaminated water is made safe by boiling for a few minutes, because the strong heat destroys the disease-producing germs. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- As boracic acid is but slightly soluble in water and other common solvents this combination with glycerine--which is also a useful agent in arresting the growth of germs--is peculiarly valuable. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- The hands may gather germs from any substances or objects with which they come in contact; hence the hands should be washed with soap and water, and especially before eating. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Chloride of lime when exposed to the air and moisture slowly gives off chlorine, and can be used as a disinfectant because the gas thus set free attacks germs and destroys them. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The whole drift towards industrial training in schools has the germs of disaster within it--a preoccupation with the technique of a career. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- One of the best methods of destroying germs is to subject them to intense heat. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- This incubator contains the germs of modern water heaters. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Henle, a German physiologist, as early as 1840, maintained the doctrine of _contagium vivum_, or contagion by the transmission of living germs. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The heat of boiling destroys animal and vegetable germs. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Nature offers simply the germs which education is to develop and perfect. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Out of the knowledge of disease germs has grown the great era of antiseptic surgery, inaugurated by Sir Joseph Lister, about 1865. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- History is silent as to whether Mr. Puckle's patent was put in practice, but it contained the germs of some modern inventions. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- But her course was too purely reasonable not to contain the germs of rebellion. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Without any doubt socialism has within it the germs of that great bureaucratic tyranny which Chesterton and Belloc have named the Servile State. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Pasteurizing apparatus, an arrangement by which milk is conveniently heated to destroy disease germs. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
Typist: Tabitha