any rod-shaped bacterium, such as a clostridium bacterium
Comparespirillum 1 any of various rodlike spore-producing bacteria constituting the family Bacillaceae, esp of the genus Bacillus
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
ba•cil•lus /bəˈsɪləs/USA pronunciation
n. [countable], pl. -cil•li
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- /-ˈsɪlaɪ/.USA pronunciation
- Microbiologya rod-shaped or cylindrical type of bacterium.
ba•cil•lus
(bə sil′əs),USA pronunciation n., pl. -cil•li
-
(-sil′ī).USA pronunciation
- Microbiologyany rod-shaped or cylindrical bacterium of the genus Bacillus, comprising spore-producing bacteria. See diag. under bacteria.
- Microbiology(formerly) any bacterium.
- Late Latin, variant of Latin bacillum (diminutive of baculum) staff, walking stick
- 1880–85
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'bacillus' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
B, b
- Bacillus thuringiensis
- Bt.
- Johne's disease
- Klebs-Löffler bacillus
- Koch
- TB
- actinobacillus
- anthrax
- bacill-
- bacillary
- bacillus Calmette-Guérin
- bacitracin
- basilard
- bighead
- chancroid
- coccobacillus
- coccus
- coliform
- coliform bacillus
- colistin
- colon bacillus
- comma bacillus
- diphtheria
- diphtheroid
- diplobacillus
- distemper
- erysipeloid
- gas bacillus
- johnin
- lactobacillus
- leprosy
- necrobacillosis
- phthiocol
- pneumobacillus
- polymyxin
- spirillum
- streptobacillus
- subtilisin
- thiobacillus
- tubercle bacillus
- tuberculin
- tuberculosis
- typhoid
- typhoid bacillus
- typhoid fever
- tyrothricin
- weaponize
- whooping cough
- woolsorters' disease