flagellate

[ verb flaj-uh-leyt; adjective noun flaj-uh-lit, -leyt ]

verb (used with object)

, flag·el·lat·ed, flag·el·lat·ing.

1. to whip; scourge; flog; lash.

adjective

1. Also flagellated. Biology. having flagella.
2. Botany. producing filiform runners or runnerlike branches, as the strawberry.
3. pertaining to or caused by flagellates.

noun

1. any protozoan of the phylum (or class) Mastigophora, having one or more flagella.

flagellate

verb

1. tr to whip; scourge; flog

adjective

1. possessing one or more flagella
2. resembling a flagellum; whiplike

noun

1. a flagellate organism, esp any protozoan of the phylum Zoomastigina

flagellate

/ flăj′ə-lāt′ /

1. Any of various protozoans of the subphylum Mastigophora that move by means of one or more flagella. Some flagellates can make food by photosynthesis (such as euglenas and volvox), and are often classified as green algae by botanists. Others are symbiotic or parasitic (such as trypanosomes). Flagellates are related to amoebas.
2. Also called mastigophoran

Derived Forms

• ˌflagelˈlation, noun

Other Words From

• flag·el·la·tor noun
• flag·el·la·to·ry [flaj, -, uh, -l, uh, -tawr-ee], adjective
• mul·ti·flag·el·late adjective
• mul·ti·flag·el·lat·ed adjective
• non·flag·el·late adjective
• non·flag·el·lat·ed adjective
• pre·flag·el·late adjective
• pre·flag·el·lat·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of flagellate¹

1615–25; < Latin flagellātus, past participle of flagellāre to whip. See flagellum, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

I admit I'm one of those people who tend to self-flagellate and is too tethered to my to-do list, sometimes defeated by it.

From The Daily Beast

These cells, called choanocytes, resemble independent animals of the Protozoa, known as flagellate Infusoria or Choanoflagellata.

From Project Gutenberg

Most of the flagellate infusoria do just the reverse; they are anodically sensitive or positively galvanotactic.

From Project Gutenberg

Other modifications are whip-like processes, or flagellate filaments, called vibracula, which constantly beat the water.

From Project Gutenberg

C, Later stage, resolving itself into two flagellate gametes.

From Project Gutenberg

An aberrant flagellate bearing a single flagellum and a silicious skeleton resembling those of the Radiolaria.

From Project Gutenberg