phage

/feɪdʒ/

Other forms: phages

Definitions of phage

1. noun

   a virus that is parasitic (reproduces itself) in bacteria
   “phage uses the bacterium's machinery and energy to produce more phage until the bacterium is destroyed and phage is released to invade surrounding bacteria”

   synonyms: bacteriophage

   types:

   coliphage

   a bacteriophage that infects the bacterium Escherichia coli

   typhoid bacteriophage

   a bacteriophage specific for the bacterium Salmonella typhi

   type of:

   virus

   (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