Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Plural of
cilium .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun plural (Anat.) The eyelashes.
- noun plural (Biol.) Small, generally microscopic, vibrating appendages lining certain organs, as the air passages of the higher animals, and in the lower animals often covering also the whole or a part of the exterior. They are also found on some vegetable organisms. In the Infusoria, and many larval forms, they are locomotive organs.
- noun plural (Bot.) Hairlike processes, commonly marginal and forming a fringe like the eyelash.
- noun plural (Zoöl.) Small, vibratory, swimming organs, somewhat resembling true cilia, as those of Ctenophora.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Irregular plural form of
cilium .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Hamada showed hair-like projections on the embryo called cilia produce a leftward flow of fluid outside the embryo, allowing the embryo to identify its left side.
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Mutations impede the flow of chloride, causing the mucus to accumulate and impeding the hair-like particles called cilia from beating back and forth to clear out the mucus.
Gene Discovery Was Only First Step Jonathan D. Rockoff 2011
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For one, the trachea is lined with millions of tiny hairs called cilia that trap any gunk you might have breathed in.
You Raising Your Child Michael F. Roizen 2010
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For one, the trachea is lined with millions of tiny hairs called cilia that trap any gunk you might have breathed in.
You Raising Your Child Michael F. Roizen 2010
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For one, the trachea is lined with millions of tiny hairs called cilia that trap any gunk you might have breathed in.
You Raising Your Child Michael F. Roizen 2010
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For one, the trachea is lined with millions of tiny hairs called cilia that trap any gunk you might have breathed in.
You Raising Your Child Michael F. Roizen 2010
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The amount of water in the body generally decreases with age, which in turn decreases the action of tiny hairs, called cilia, in the nose that help wash it out.
Need a Tissue? 2008
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Each breath passes through or over lymph tissue and millions of hair like projections called cilia that filter, re-filter and remove any particles that may damage the lungs.
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It is, in fact, a minute oval body, many hundred times smaller than the full grown creature, and it swims about with great activity by the help of multitudes of little hair-like filaments, called cilia, with which its body is covered.
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Delicate, hair-like filaments, not unlike the pile on velvet, called cilia, spring from the epithelial lining of the air tubes.
A Practical Physiology Albert F. Blaisdell
cathari commented on the word cilia
I've always thought "cilia" would be a beautiful name for a girl-- if it didn't bring protozoa to mind.
October 15, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word cilia
Cilia! You're breakin my heart! You're shakin my confidence daily....!
October 15, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word cilia
Oh man, I just gave myself a SImon & Garfunkel-related earworm!
October 15, 2007
uselessness commented on the word cilia
I like the name Celia.
October 15, 2007
cathari commented on the word cilia
I don't like Celia the way that I like cilia, though. And while I like Cecilia, I like it for a completely different reason. I think it's all the little i's and l's that are so pretty (and onomatopoeic, actually.)
October 15, 2007
reesetee commented on the word cilia
And everyone else, npydyuan!
I like "Celia" too. Nice name. Except for the damned earworm. ;-)
October 15, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word cilia
Hmmm.... is there a word for visual onomatopoeia? "Cilia" kinda looks like what it means, at least in the middle....
October 15, 2007
reesetee commented on the word cilia
Someone did start a list like that way back when....
Found it. Here you go.
October 15, 2007
skipvia commented on the word cilia
I offer a compromise: Cilla, a shortened form of Priscilla. Here I'm thinking of Cilla Black, a Beatles-era vocalist.
October 15, 2007
npydyuan commented on the word cilia
Thanks, rt!
Hmmm... Some of them I can see, like bed (cool!), but others.... I'm gonna need some help.
October 15, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word cilia
I'm not in favor of Cilla. It sounds to me like Scylla!
That list is pretty neat! Is kalvin still around? I wonder if he/she would like to add to it. Of course nothing's stopping another Wordie from starting his/her own similar list...
October 15, 2007
reesetee commented on the word cilia
Haven't seen kalvin posting in a while....
October 15, 2007
trivet commented on the word cilia
I think I knew a Celia once, if that helps.
October 16, 2007
cathari commented on the word cilia
I'm going to add Cilla to my list of favourite people names. Thanks, skipvia. :)
October 16, 2007
seanahan commented on the word cilia
I really wanted to leave a snarky comment when I saw the first post, but you guys seem to have handled it pretty nicely.
October 16, 2007
yarb commented on the word cilia
Citation on velium.
December 24, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word cilia
There's also the old song "To Celia" by Ben Jonson ("Drink to me only with thine eyes, and I will pledge with mine").
November 9, 2011