Definition of "germ"

germ

/d͡ʒɜːm/

noun
plural germs
1. (biology) The small mass of cells from which a new organism develops; a seed, bud, spore, or zygote.
  1. The embryo of a seed, especially of a seed used as a cereal or grain. See Wikipedia article on cereal germ.
  2. (biology) The small mass of cells from which a part of an organism develops, or a macroscopic but immature form of that part; a bud.
2. A pathogen: a pathogenic microorganism, such as a bacterium or virus.
  Quotations
  'This again,' said the Bacteriologist, slipping a glass slide under the microscope, 'is a preparation of the celebrated Bacillus of cholera - the cholera germ.'
  1895, H. G. Wells, The Stolen Bacillus
3. (figurative) The origin or earliest version of an idea or project.
  Quotations
  What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth? - the dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germs of empires.
  1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], part I, page 194
4. (mathematics) An equivalence class that includes a specified function defined in an open neighborhood.
verb
third-person singular simple present germs, present participle germing, simple past and past participle germed
1. To germinate.
  Quotations
  Thus tempted, the lust to avenge me / Germed inly and grew.
  1909, Thomas Hardy, The Flirt's Tragedy
2. (slang) To grow, as if parasitic.
  Quotations
  I’m addicted, want to germ inside your love
  2011, Black Eyed Peas, Just Can't Get Enough

Definition of "germ"

germ

noun

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verb

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