Definition of Flagellum

1. Noun. A whip used to inflict punishment (often used for pedantic humor).

Exact synonyms: Scourge
Generic synonyms: Whip
Derivative terms: Flagellate, Scourge, Scourge

2. Noun. A lash-like appendage used for locomotion (e.g., in sperm cells and some bacteria and protozoa).
Group relationships: Eubacteria, Eubacterium, True Bacteria, Sperm, Sperm Cell, Spermatozoan, Spermatozoon
Generic synonyms: Appendage, Outgrowth, Process
Derivative terms: Flagellate

Definition of Flagellum

1. n. A young, flexible shoot of a plant; esp., the long trailing branch of a vine, or a slender branch in certain mosses.

Definition of Flagellum

1. Noun. (biology) In protists, a long, whiplike membrane-enclosed organelle used for locomotion or feeding. ¹

2. Noun. (biology) In bacteria, a long, whiplike proteinaceous appendage, used for locomotion. ¹

3. Noun. A whip ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Flagellum

1. a long, slender plant shoot [n FLAGELLA or FLAGELLUMS]

Medical Definition of Flagellum

1. Long thin projection from a cell used in movement. In eukaryotes flagella (like cilia) have a characteristic axial 9+2 microtubular array (axoneme) and bends are generated along the length of the flagellum by restricted sliding of the nine outer doublets. In prokaryotes the flagellum is made of polymerised flagellin and is rotated by the basal motor. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Flagellum

flagellated protozoan
flagellates
flagellatin'
flagellating
flagellation
flagellations
flagellator
flagellators
flagelliform
flagellin
flagellin N-methylase
flagellins
flagellomania
flagellomanias
flagellum (current term)
flagellums
flageolet
flageoletist
flageoletists
flageolets
flagfish
flagged
flagger
flaggers
flaggier
flaggiest
flagginess
flagging
flagging down

Literary usage of Flagellum

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General by Thomas Spencer Baynes (1888)
"1 2) .cannot, however, be explained as a flagellum. ... which springs the thick transversely striated proboscis or "big flagellum. ..."

2. Certain Tractates: Together with the Book of Four Score Three Questions, & a by Ninian Winzet, James King Hewison, Vincent (1888)
"The 'flagellum' consists of 151 pages; ... The title of the ' flagellum ' in full runs thus :— " flagellum ..."

3. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1883)
"(В) Distribution of grains along the flagellum. ... (d) The hooklike structure that appears at the end of the flagellum is connected to the bacterium. ..."

4. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"The apparent girdle of cilia is П;а 'У «n undulating flagellum lying in the ... Body compressed laterally ; both longitudinal and transverse flagellum ..."

5. Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society by Royal Microscopical Society, London (1878)
"11, where the dotted part a represents the image of the flagellum as seen beyond the pencil line c; and a very close approximation may thus be made between ..."

6. Guide to the British Mycetozoa Exhibited in the Department of Botany by Arthur Lister (1903)
"motion occasioned by the lashing movement of the flagellum. They possess a single nucleus and a contractile vacuole. To a large extent the swarm-cells feed ..."

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