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Definition of "pilus" [pilus]

  • A hair or hairlike structure, especially on the surface of a cell or microorganism. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "pilus" in a sentence
  • "It does explore the topic of homology between the flagellar axial proteins rod-hook-filament and the T3SS pilus, which is incredibly useful."
  • "The pilus is a long, hair-like appendage that the bacterium uses to reach out to human cells that it infects."
  • "A bacterium connects itself to another through a tube structure called pilus (there are lots of them, spiky things, plural: pilli), you can see them in the second illustration in this article (scroll up)."
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