VIRUSES Synonyms

• (microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission; important as pathogens and for biochemical properties; taxonomy is difficult; often considered to be plants

• general term for any insect or similar creeping or crawling invertebrate

• a fault or defect in a computer program, system, or machine

• a small hidden microphone; for listening secretly

• insects with sucking mouthparts and forewings thickened and leathery at the base; usually show incomplete metamorphosis

• a minute life form (especially a disease-causing bacterium); the term is not in technical use

• annoy persistently

• tap a telephone or telegraph wire to get information

• any disease easily transmitted by contact

• an incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted

• the communication of an attitude or emotional state among a number of people

• an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning

• anything that provides inspiration for later work

• a small apparently simple structure (as a fertilized egg) from which new tissue can develop into a complete organism

• a minute life form (especially a disease-causing bacterium); the term is not in technical use

• the pathological state resulting from the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms

• (phonetics) the alteration of a speech sound under the influence of a neighboring sound

• (medicine) the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms and their multiplication which can lead to tissue damage and disease

• an incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted

• the communication of an attitude or emotional state among a number of people

• moral corruption or contamination

• (international law) illegality that taints or contaminates a ship or cargo rendering it liable to seizure

• malicious software, designed to break into a system

• a minute life form (especially a disease-causing bacterium); the term is not in technical use

• any disease-producing agent (especially a virus or bacterium or other microorganism)

• a software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer