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mutate
[ myoo-teyt ]
verb (used with object)
- to change; alter.
- Biology. to cause (a gene, cell, etc.) to undergo an alteration of one or more characteristics:
The disease mutates the retina’s rod cells, and they slowly stop working.
- Phonetics. to change by umlaut.
verb (used without object)
- to undergo change:
It was a gamble to mutate from hard rock frontman to big band crooner, but he went seriously retro and won that bet in a huge way.
- Biology. (of a gene, cell, etc.) to undergo an alteration of one or more characteristics:
Drug-resistant cells mutate more quickly and could migrate into surrounding tissue.
mutate
/ mjuːˈteɪtɪv; ˈmjuːtətɪv; mjuːˈteɪt /
verb
- to undergo or cause to undergo mutation
Derived Forms
- mutative, adjective
Other Words From
- mu·ta·tive [myoo, -t, uh, -tiv], adjective
- non·mu·ta·tive adjective
- un·mu·tat·ed adjective
- un·mu·ta·tive adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of mutate1
Example Sentences
Yet even as airports have taken aggressive steps to keep travelers safe, they are battling a virus that continues to mutate in ways that make it more contagious and possibly more deadly, researchers said.
As viruses move from person to person, they mutate at a predictable pace, and over a chain of transmissions, those mutations accumulate.
Numbers one and two detected against the SARS-CoV-2 and number three detected any coronavirus, in case it mutated.
Perhaps there hasn’t been enough time, and the coronavirus moves quickly and is now mutating, so its metaphors may change, too.
Research suggests currently authorized vaccines will work against them, but there is always the frightening possibility that the virus will mutate enough that that’s no longer true.
He said, "Then, any survivors on earth will have to mutate into something other than mankind?"
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