noun
Meaning 1
A hair.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
pilus
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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pī′ləs
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Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpaɪ̯.ləs/
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Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation, also: /ˈpʌɪ̯.ləs/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈpɑe̯.ləs/
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Scotland: /ˈpʌi̯.ləs/
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Scotland: /ˈpəi̯-/
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Scotland: /-lʌs/
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India: /ˈpəj.lus/
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India: /ˈpɑːj.lus/
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rhymes with -aɪləs
noun
Meaning 2
A hairlike appendage found on the cell surface of many bacteria.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, microbiology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: fimbria
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A bacterial protein that has several biochemical functions.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, microbiology, natural-sciences, physical-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
hairlike structure especially on the surface of a cell or microorganism
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: hair
noun
Meaning 5
any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- there is a hair in my soup
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hair
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: filament, filum
Narrower terms: ingrown hair
History
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pile.