bacteriophage

noun

bac·​te·​ri·​o·​phage bak-ˈtir-ē-ə-ˌfāj 

also

-ˌfäzh 

plural bacteriophages

: a virus that infects bacteria : phage

Much smaller than the bacteria they attack, bacteriophages cannot grow and multiply on their own.

—C. Claiborne Ray

The genes were amplified by using PCR [=polymerase chain reaction] and inserted into … a bacteriophage of E. coli.

—Ricki Lewis

bacteriophagy

(ˌ)bak-ˌtir-ē-ˈä-fə-jē 

noun

Examples of bacteriophage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

One company is aiming to treat infections with a different strategy: arming tiny viruses called bacteriophages with Crispr. —Emily Mullin, WIRED, 10 Sep. 2024

These remarkable entities were named bacteriophages — literally bacteria-eaters — or phages for short. —Cecilia.butini, Vox, 4 June 2024

The development of antibiotics sidelined bacteriophage use for decades, except in a handful of countries in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. —Cecilia.butini, Vox, 4 June 2024

This discovery resulted from an exhaustive study of the bacteriophage T4, a virus that infects bacteria. —William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

bacteriophage

noun

bac·​te·​rio·​phage

bak-ˈtir-ē-ə-ˌfāj,

-ˌfāzh

: any of various viruses that specifically attack bacteria

Medical Definition

bacteriophage

noun

bac·​te·​ri·​o·​phage bak-ˈtir-ē-ə-ˌfāj  -ˌfäzh 

: a virus that infects bacteria : phage

Bacteriophages invade bacterial cells and burst them open before they have a chance to produce lactic acid.

—Diana Morgan and Terence Monmaney, Science

bacteriophagy

(ˌ)bak-ˌtir-ē-ˈäf-ə-jē 

noun