Meaning & use

ciliate

noun·Advanced

A single-celled organism covered with tiny hair-like structures called cilia, used for movement and feeding.

See it in a sentence

Under the microscope, students watched a ciliate propel itself through the pond water.

Paramecium is a well-known example of a ciliate found in freshwater ponds.

A note on using this word

Ciliate can also be used as an adjective meaning fringed with cilia, as in a ciliate leaf margin in botany.

Words with a similar meaning

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