amoeban

Variant of amoeba

noun pl. amoebas or amoebae

  1. a one-celled, microscopic organism belonging to any of several families of rhizopods that move and feed using pseudopodia and reproduce by fission; esp., any of a genus (Amoeba) found in soil or water or a parasitic genus (Entamoeba) found in higher animals and humans
  2. something indefinite in shape or perpetually changing, like an amoeba

Origin: ModL < Gr amoibē, change < ameibein, to change

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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