- [countable, usually plural]
a very small living thing that can cause infection and disease 微生物;細菌;病菌 Extra ExamplesTopics Biologyb2, Illnessb2Cracks and scratches in work surfaces can harbour germs. 操作台的裂縫和刮痕都會藏着細菌。 The epidemic was caused by a particularly virulent flu germ. 這一流行病是由一種致病力強的流感病毒引起的。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- deadly
- drug-resistant
- resistant
- …
- carry
- spread
- destroy
- …
- warfare
- [singular] germ of something
an early stage of the development of something 起源;發端;萌芽 Here was the germ of a brilliant idea. 一個絕妙的主意就是從這裏萌發的。 The germ of the town was a single house near the river. 這個城鎮的雛形是河邊的一所獨棟房子。
- [countable] (
biology )生物 the part of a plant or an animal that can develop into a new one 胚芽;胚原基;芽孢;胚胎 The germ is the embryo of the new plant. 胚芽是新植物的胚胎。
Word Originlate Middle English (in sense (3)): via Old French from Latin germen ‘seed, sprout’. Sense (1) dates from the late 19th cent.