Virus

Quick meaning: Virus is a noun meaning (uncountable) A quantity of such infectious agents, considered en masse.

Meaning

(uncountable) A quantity of such infectious agents, considered en masse.

More Meanings

1. (informal, metonymic) A disease caused by such an infectious agent; a viral illness.
2. (computing, proscribed) Any type of malware.
3. (figurative) Any malicious or dangerous entity that spreads from one place or person to another.
4. (nonstandard, rare) To send or infect an electronic device with a computer virus.
5. (computing) A type of malware which can covertly transmit itself between computers via networks (especially the Internet) or removable storage such as disks, often causing damage to systems and data; also computer virus.
6. A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure that consists of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and that sometimes causes disease in the host organism (such agents are often classed as nonliving infectious particles and less often as microorganisms).
7. (archaic) Venom, as produced by a poisonous animal etc.

Example Sentences

He's got a virus and had to stay home from school.

Wait a minute! Is this one of those virus emails?!

Viruses are the smallest and most simplified forms of life.

Not much virus was detectable on a nucleic acid test; the viral load was very low.

Word Forms

• viruses
• virusses
• vira
• viri
• virii
• virusing
• virused

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include virology, viral, pathogen, poliovirus, plague, influenza.

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