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

“The Plague,” the suddenly timely and widely reread Albert Camus novel, is about the random executions carried out by the bubonic plague bacillus, which only makes manifest the inherent precariousness of human existence.

From Washington Post • Aug. 28, 2020

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 in this particular race the winner will probably turn out to be the TB bacillus.

From The Guardian • Jun. 29, 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