noun
germ
JURM/dʒɜːrm/
A microorganism, especially one that can cause disease.
Washing your hands with soap helps remove germs from your skin.
Etymology
Latin germen meant a sprout or bud. Through the image of a disease’s “seed,” germ came to mean a tiny disease-causing organism.
In context
When germs get into your nose, your body sends tiny germ fighting cells
More examples
- A single germ can multiply quickly under the right conditions.
- She covers her cough to avoid spreading germs.
- This cleaner kills germs on kitchen counters.
Forms
germ · germs
germicide noun — A substance that kills harmful microorganisms.
Similar words
- microbe
- A neutral term for a microscopic organism, not necessarily harmful.
- microorganism
- A more technical term that includes harmless microscopic organisms.
- pathogen
- Specifically a disease-causing agent, rather than any microscopic organism.