VIRUS • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Virus

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/vˈaɪrəs/ Listen

noun

Virus n.

1.

(Med.) Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific ulcers, the bite of snakes, etc.; applied to organic poisons. (Archaic)

2.

The causative agent of a disease,. (obsolescent)

3.

Any of numerous submicroscopic complex organic objects which have genetic material and may be considered as living organisms but have no proper cell membrane, and thus cannot by themselves perform metabolic processes, requiring entry into a host cell in order to multiply. The simplest viruses have no lipid envelope and may be considered as complex aggregates of molecules, sometimes only a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) and a coat protein. They are sometimes viewed as being on the borderline between living and nonliving objects. They are smaller than living cells in size, usually between 20 and 300 nm; thus they pass through standard filters, and were previously referred to as filterable virus. The manifestations of disease caused by multiplication of viruses in cells may be due to destruction of the cells caused by subversion of the cellular metabolic processes by the virus, or by synthesis of a virus-specific toxin. Viruses may infect animals, plants, or microorganisms; those infecting bacteria are also called bacteriophages. Certain bacteriophages may be non-destructive and benign in the host; see bacteriophage.

4.

Fig.: Any morbid corrupting quality in intellectual or moral conditions; something that poisons the mind or the soul; as, the virus of obscene books.

5.

(Computers) A program or segment of program code that may make copies of itself (replicate), attach itself to other programs, and perform unwanted actions within a computer; also called computer virus or virus program. Such programs are almost always introduced into a computer without the knowledge or assent of its owner, and are often malicious, causing destructive actions such as erasing data on disk, but sometime only annoying, causing peculiar objects to appear on the display. The form of sociopathic mental disease that causes a programmer to write such a program has not yet been given a name. Compare trojan horse (3).

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Etymology of 'Virus'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Virus" Quotes from Famous Books

... governments being the variable elements. "The rabbits in Australia, and the far more objectionable poisonous snakes in South America and India, have been exterminated by the capture of a few dozen of the creatures in the infested districts, their inoculation with the virus similar to the murus tiphi, tuberculosis or any other contagious-germ complaint to which the species treated was particularly susceptible, and the release of these individuals when the disease was seen ...

— A Journey in Other Worlds • J. J. Astor

... Saint Virus' dance (chorea) is a peculiar disorder seen in nervous children, and which usually clears up in a few weeks or months under proper treatment. It is characterized by irregular jerkings pretty much all over the body, so that the child staggers as he walks, drops ...

— The Mother and Her Child • William S. Sadler

... was born, and bred, and nurst, And drest in the best from the very first, To please the genteelest censor— And then, as soon as strength would allow, Was vaccinated, as babes are now, With virus ta'en from the best-bred cow Of Lord ...

— The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood • Thomas Hood

... Agriculture relating to agricultural import and entry inspection activities under the laws specified in subsection (b). (b) Covered Animal and Plant Protection Laws.—The laws referred to in subsection (a) are the following: (1) The Act commonly known as the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act (the eighth paragraph under the heading "Bureau of Animal Industry'' in the Act of March 4, 1913; 21 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). (2) Section 1 of the Act of August 31, 1922 (commonly known as the Honeybee Act; 7 U.S.C. ...

— Homeland Security Act of 2002 - Updated Through October 14, 2008 • Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. House of Representatives

... Victor, who had never reappeared, was living still in the shade, since he was not in the galleys, cast forth by the world into the future, into the unknown, like a human beast foaming with the hereditary virus, who must communicate his malady with every bite he gives. Sidonie Rougon, who had for a time disappeared, weary of disreputable affairs, had lately retired to a sort of religious house, where she was living in monastic austerity, the treasurer of the Marriage ...

— Doctor Pascal • Emile Zola

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