Phage

4 definitions found

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

  bacteriophage \bacteriophage\ n. sing. & pl.
     a virus which infects bacteria; -- also colloquially called
     {phage} in laboratory jargon.
  
     Note: Bacteriophages are of many varieties, generally
           specific for one or a narrow range of bacterial


           species, and almost every bacterium is susceptible to
           at least one bacteriophage. They may have DNA or RNA as
           their genetic component. Certain types of
           bacteriophage, called
  
     {temperate bacteriophage}, may infect but not kill their host
        bacteria, residing in and replicating either as a plasmid
        or integrated into the host genome. Under certain
        conditions, a resident temperate phage may become induced
        to multiply rapidly and vegetatively, killing and lysing
        its host bacterium, and producing multiple progeny. The
        {lambda phage} of {Eschericia coli}, much studied in
        biochemical and genetic research, is of the temperate
        type.
        [PJC] bacteriophagic

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  phage
       n : a virus that is parasitic in bacteria; it uses the
           bacterium's machinery and energy to produce more phage
           until the bacterium is destroyed and phage is released to
           invade surrounding bacteria [syn: {bacteriophage}]

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  phage n. A program that modifies other programs or databases in
     unauthorized ways; esp. one that propagates a {virus} or {Trojan horse}.
     See also {worm}, {mockingbird}. The analogy, of course, is with phage
     viruses in biology.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  phage
       
          A program that modifies other programs or databases in
          unauthorised ways; especially one that propagates a {virus} or
          {Trojan horse}.  See also {worm}, {mockingbird}.  The
          analogy, of course, is with phage viruses in biology.
       
          [{Jargon File}]