Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • A supposed class or other group of animalcules; sperm-animals: so called before their nature was known, when they were regarded as independent parasitic organisms.
  • Plural of spermatozoön.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of spermatozoon.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The "fertilisation" of the frog's eggs is effected in ordinary conditions by the presence in the water of the pond, into which the female sheds them, of microscopic sperm-filaments (often called spermatozoa, or simply "sperms") which are shed into the water at the same time by the male frog.

    More Science From an Easy Chair 1888

  • The animalculists held that the spermatozoa were the true germs, and appealed to the lively movements and the structure of these bodies.

    The Evolution of Man — Volume 1 Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel 1876

  • Into this casket, by a secret opening, filmy tubes thrown out by the pollen grains -- now enticed from their hiding-place on the stamens and clustered on the stigma -- enter and pour a fertilizing fluid, called "spermatozoa," through a microscopic gateway, which opens in the wall of the egg and leads to its inmost heart.

    The Power of Womanhood, or Mothers and Sons A Book For Parents, And Those In Loco Parentis Ellice Hopkins

  • Dr Allen Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "As a sperm biologist of 20 years 'experience, I am unconvinced from the data presented in this paper that the cells produced ... can be accurately called' spermatozoa '."

    Top Stories: BreakingNews.ie 2009

  • Dr Allan Pacey, from the University of Sheffield, said: "As a sperm biologist of 20 years 'experience, I am unconvinced from the data presented in this paper that the cells … produced by Professor Nayernia's group can be accurately called' spermatozoa '."

    The Guardian World News 2009

  • The tool used to genetically modify the chicken was developed by a team of three scientists at the Hyderabad-based Project Directorate on Poultry after two years of research using a gene of jellyfish and spermatozoa of a specific variety of chicken from the institute.

    India Develops Transgenic Chicken Arpan Mukherjee 2010

  • The tool used to genetically modify the chicken was developed by a team of three scientists at the Hyderabad-based Project Directorate on Poultry after two years of research using a gene of jellyfish and spermatozoa of a specific variety of chicken from the institute.

    India Develops Transgenic Chicken Arpan Mukherjee 2010

  • An outright spermatozoa transforms the squeaky clean Scrubbing Bubbles characters into curious and mal-intentioned creatures.

    ArtScene: California Exhibitions that Keep the Summer Hot 2010

  • Instead, they go rogue, secretly adding human genes to the mixture, producing a clandestine offspring which, at first, looks like a mammoth spermatozoa dipped in motor oil.

    Marshall Fine: HuffPost Review: Splice 2010

  • The tool used to genetically modify the chicken was developed by a team of three scientists at the Hyderabad-based Project Directorate on Poultry after two years of research using a gene of jellyfish and spermatozoa of a specific variety of chicken from the institute.

    India Develops Transgenic Chicken Arpan Mukherjee 2010

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