E. coli
[ ˌē-ˈkō-ˌlī]
[ˌē-ˈkō-ˌlī]
plural E. coli
: an enterobacterium (Escherichia coli) that is used in public health as an indicator of fecal pollution (as of water or food) and in medicine and genetics as a research organism and that occurs in various strains that may live as harmless inhabitants of the human lower intestine or may produce a toxin causing intestinal illness — see enterobacterium illustration First Known Use of E. coli
1925, in the meaning defined above
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