Spore

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Spore \Spore\ (sp[=o]r), n. [Gr. ? a sowing, seed, from ? to
     sow. Cf. {Sperm}.]
     1. (Bot.)
        (a) One of the minute grains in flowerless plants, which
            are analogous to seeds, as serving to reproduce the
            species.


            [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Spores are produced differently in the different
           classes of cryptogamous plants, and as regards their
           nature are often so unlike that they have only their
           minuteness in common. The peculiar spores of diatoms
           (called {auxospores}) increase in size, and at length
           acquire a siliceous coating, thus becoming new diatoms
           of full size. Compare {Macrospore}, {Microspore},
           {Oospore}, {Resting spore}, {Sphaerospore},
           {Swarmspore}, {Tetraspore}, {Zoospore}, and
           {Zygospore}.
           [1913 Webster]
        (b) An embryo sac or embryonal vesicle in the ovules of
            flowering plants.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Biol.)
        (a) A minute grain or germ; a small, round or ovoid body,
            formed in certain organisms, and by germination giving
            rise to a new organism; as, the reproductive spores of
            bacteria, etc.
        (b) One of the parts formed by fission in certain
            Protozoa. See {Spore formation}, belw.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     {Spore formation}.
        (a) (Biol) A mode of reproduction resembling multiple
            fission, common among Protozoa, in which the organism
            breaks up into a number of pieces, or spores, each of
            which eventually develops into an organism like the
            parent form. --Balfour.
        (b) The formation of reproductive cells or spores, as in
            the growth of bacilli.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  spore
       n : a small usually single-celled reproductive body produced by
           many plants and some protozoans and that develops into a
           new individual; "a sexual spore is formed after the
           fusion of gametes"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  55 Moby Thesaurus words for "spore":
     adenovirus, aerobe, aerobic bacteria, amoeba, anaerobe,
     anaerobic bacteria, bacillus, bacteria, bacterium, basidium, bug,
     coccus, cystocarp, disease-producing microorganism, echovirus,
     enterovirus, filterable virus, fungus, germ,
     gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, macrospore,
     megaspore, microbe, microorganism, microsporangium, microspore,
     mold, nonfilterable virus, pathogen, picornavirus, planospore,
     protozoa, protozoon, reovirus, rhinovirus, rickettsia, sorus,
     spirillum, spirochete, sporangium, sporocarp, sporocyst, sporocyte,
     sporophore, sporophyte, sporule, staphylococcus, streptococcus,
     swarm spore, trypanosome, vibrio, virus, zoospore, zygospore