Definition of "spermatozoa" []

• Plural form of spermatozoon. (noun)

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• "The "fertilisation" of the frog's eggs is effected in ordinary conditions by the presence in the water of the pond, into which the female sheds them, of microscopic sperm-filaments (often called spermatozoa, or simply "sperms") which are shed into the water at the same time by the male frog."
• "The animalculists held that the spermatozoa were the true germs, and appealed to the lively movements and the structure of these bodies."
• "Into this casket, by a secret opening, filmy tubes thrown out by the pollen grains -- now enticed from their hiding-place on the stamens and clustered on the stigma -- enter and pour a fertilizing fluid, called "spermatozoa," through a microscopic gateway, which opens in the wall of the egg and leads to its inmost heart."