bacillus

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A series of laboratory discoveries in the late 19th century taught scientists that Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the bacillus that caused diphtheria, killed animals and people by producing a toxin.

From Slate • Feb. 9, 2021

Caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae, it has affected multitudes over thousands of years — and, as a chronic disease with physical manifestations, has been a source of stigma and ostracism.

From Nature • Mar. 3, 2019

And so – not without a certain delight in my own suffering, of course – I sat on the couch, a sniffling bacillus tucked cosily on either side.

From The Guardian • Dec. 13, 2015

Black rats carried fleas that were infested with a bacillus called Yersinia pestis.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

The present comparative rarity of tuberculosis results in large measure from the fact that the average person now seldom comes into contact with the tubercle bacillus.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson