Adjacent Words

Virus definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VI'RUS, n. [L. See Virulent.] Foul or contagious matter of an ulcer, postule, etc.; poison.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (virology) ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts; many are pathogenic; a piece of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a thin coat of protein
2: a harmful or corrupting agency; "bigotry is a virus that must not be allowed to spread"; "the virus of jealousy is latent in everyone"
3: a software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer; "a true virus cannot spread to another computer without human assistance" [syn: virus, computer virus]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural viruses) Etymology: Latin, venom, poisonous emanation; akin to Greek ios poison, Sanskrit vi?a; in senses 2 & 4, from New Latin, from Latin Date: 1599 1. archaic venom 1 2. a. the causative agent of an infectious disease b. any of a large group of submicroscopic infective agents that are regarded either as extremely simple microorganisms or as extremely complex molecules, that typically contain a protein coat surrounding an RNA or DNA core of genetic material but no semipermeable membrane, that are capable of growth and multiplication only in living cells, and that cause various important diseases in humans, lower animals, or plants; also filterable virus c. a disease or illness caused by a virus 3. something that poisons the mind or soul <the force of this virus of prejudice — V. S. Waters> 4. a computer program that is usually hidden within another seemingly innocuous program and that produces copies of itself and inserts them into other programs and usually performs a malicious action (as destroying data)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a microscopic organism consisting mainly of nucleic acid in a protein coat, multiplying only in living cells and often causing diseases. 2 Computing = computer virus. 3 archaic a poison, a source of disease. 4 a harmful or corrupting influence. Etymology: L, = slimy liquid, poison

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Virus Vi"rus, n. [L., a slimy liquid, a poisonous liquid, poison, stench; akin to Gr. ? poison, Skr. visha. Cf. Wizen, v. i.] 1. (Med.) (a) Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific ulcers, the bite of snakes, etc.; -- applied to organic poisons. (b) The special contagion, inappreciable to the senses and acting in exceedingly minute quantities, by which a disease is introduced into the organism and maintained there. Note: The specific virus of diseases is now regarded as a microscopic living vegetable organism which multiplies within the body, and, either by its own action or by the associated development of a chemical poison, causes the phenomena of the special disease. 2. Fig.: Any morbid corrupting quality in intellectual or moral conditions; something that poisons the mind or the soul; as, the virus of obscene books.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(viruses) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A virus is a kind of germ that can cause disease. There are many different strains of flu virus. N-COUNT 2. In computer technology, a virus is a program that introduces itself into a system, altering or destroying the information stored in the system. (COMPUTING) N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Poison (of a morbid nature), venom.

Moby Thesaurus

acaricide, adenovirus, aerial infection, aerobe, aerobic bacteria, aerobic organism, airborne infection, amoeba, anaerobe, anaerobic bacteria, anaerobic organism, anthelmintic, antibiotic, antiseptic, autotrophic organism, bacillus, bacteria, bacterium, bane, being, bug, bug bomb, carbamate insecticide, carrier, chemosterilant, chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide, coccus, communicability, contact poison, contagion, contagiousness, contamination, corruption, creature, cryptogenic infection, defoliant, direct infection, disease-producing microorganism, disinfectant, droplet infection, dust infection, echovirus, enterovirus, epidemiology, eradicant, filterable virus, fumigant, fungicide, fungus, genetic individual, germ, germicide, gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, hand infection, herbicide, heterotrophic organism, indirect infection, individual, infection, infectiousness, insect powder, insecticide, living being, living thing, microbe, microbicide, microorganism, miticide, mold, morphological individual, nonfilterable virus, ont, organic being, organic chlorine, organic phosphate insecticide, organism, organization, pathogen, pesticide, physiological individual, phytogenic infection, picornavirus, poison, primary infection, protozoa, protozoon, pyogenic infection, rat poison, reovirus, rhinovirus, rickettsia, roach paste, roach powder, rodenticide, secondary infection, spirillum, spirochete, spore, staphylococcus, stomach poison, streptococcus, subclinical infection, systemic, systemic insecticide, taint, toxic, toxicant, toxin, trypanosome, vector, venin, venom, vermicide, vibrio, waterborne infection, weed killer, zoogenic infection, zooid, zoon