noun
a genus of enteric bacteria
• Hypernyms: ↑enteric bacteria, ↑enterobacteria, ↑enterics, ↑entric
• Hyponyms: ↑Escherichia coli, ↑E. coli
• Member Holonyms: ↑genus Escherichia
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\\ˌeshəˈrikēə\ nounUsage: capitalized
: a genus of aerobic gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria (family Enterobacteriaceae) that form acid and gas on many carbohydrates (as dextrose and lactose) but no acetoin and that include forms (as members of the type species E. coli) normally present in the human or other vertebrate intestines which are occasionally pathogenic and indicative of fecal contamination when found in water and other forms which typically occur in soil and water
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Escherichia /esh-ə-rikˈi-ə/
noun
A genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae
ORIGIN: T Escherich (died 1911), German physician
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Escherichia coli noun
The type species of this genus, occurring naturally in the intestines of vertebrates and sometimes pathogenic (abbrev E. coli)
Useful english dictionary. 2012.