flagellum
Biology. a long, lashlike appendage serving as an organ of locomotion in protozoa, sperm cells, etc.
Botany. a runner.
Also called clavola. Entomology. (in an antenna) the whiplike portion above the basal joints.
a whip or lash.
Origin of flagellum
1Words Nearby flagellum
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use flagellum in a sentence
Think of its incredibly sophisticated miniature machines, like the swirling flagellum that helps a bacterium swim.
Is Ginkgo’s synthetic-biology story worth $15 billion? | Antonio Regalado | August 24, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewHere a flagellum from the male unites with the female, which soon thereafter becomes encysted in the wall of the intestine.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddDespite some humorous touches, this flagellum Parliamentum is still disagreeable to read.
Andrew Marvell | Augustine BirrellHe began a series of satires on princes and leading men, and earned the title of flagellum principum.
Books Fatal to Their Authors | P. H. DitchfieldThe pseudopodia are occasionally withdrawn, and the flagellum is the sole means of locomotion.
Marine Protozoa from Woods Hole | Gary N. Calkins
In addition to the main flagellum, there are usually one or two small flagella at the basis of the larger one.
Marine Protozoa from Woods Hole | Gary N. Calkins
British Dictionary definitions for flagellum
/ (fləˈdʒɛləm) /
biology a long whiplike outgrowth from a cell that acts as an organ of locomotion: occurs in some protozoans, gametes, spores, etc
botany a long thin supple shoot or runner
zoology the terminal whiplike part of an arthropod's appendage, esp of the antenna of many insects
Origin of flagellum
1Derived forms of flagellum
- flagellar, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for flagellum
[ flə-jĕl′əm ]
A slender whiplike part extending from some single-celled organisms, such as the dinoflagellates, that moves rapidly back and forth to impart movement to the organism.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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