: the coronavirus (Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus of the genus Betacoronavirus) that is the causative agent of SARS

Examples of SARS-CoV in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Studies on the closely related SARS-CoV have implicated viral proteins in the possible degradation of p53 and pRB, which are critical oncosuppressors. Carolyn Barber, Fortune, 23 Nov. 2023 That was caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV, which is closely related to the one that causes COVID-19. Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2023 What’s more, patients who were infected with the SARS-CoV coronavirus — a close relative to the pandemic virus that was responsible for the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome — have shown signs of T-cell immunity 17 years later. Melissa Healy, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Mar. 2023 Initially assumed to transmit only from people who were actively sick—as its predecessor SARS-CoV did—the new coronavirus turned out to be a silent spreader, also spewing from the airways of people who were feeling just fine. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

2003, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of SARS-CoV was in 2003

Dictionary Entries Near SARS-CoV

Cite this Entry

“SARS-CoV.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/SARS-CoV. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

Medical Definition

SARS-CoV

noun
: the coronavirus (Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus of the genus Betacoronavirus) that is the causative agent of SARS
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