Library / English Dictionary

PILUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hairlike structure especially on the surface of a cell or microorganism

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("pilus" is a kind of...):

hair (a filamentous projection or process on an organism)

Holonyms ("pilus" is a part of...):

micro-organism; microorganism (any organism of microscopic size)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal

Example:

there is a hair in my soup

Synonyms:

hair; pilus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("pilus" is a kind of...):

filament; filum (a threadlike structure (as a chainlike series of cells))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pilus"):

ingrown hair (a hair that does not emerge from the follicle but remains embedded in the skin (usually causing inflammation))

Holonyms ("pilus" is a part of...):

mammal; mammalian (any warm-blooded vertebrate having the skin more or less covered with hair; young are born alive except for the small subclass of monotremes and nourished with milk)

Derivation:

pilar (of or relating to a hair)

Credits