meaning of virus
1. Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific ulcers, the bite of snakes, etc. ; -- applied to organic poisons.
2. The special contagion, inappreciable to the senses and acting in exceedingly minute quantities, by which a disease is introduced into the organism and maintained there.
3. Fig. : Any morbid corrupting quality in intellectual or moral conditions; something that poisons the mind or the soul; as, the virus of obscene books.
4. virology ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts; many are pathogenic; a piece of nucleic acid DNA or RNA wrapped in a thin coat of protein
Related Words
virus | virus infection | virusoid |
