virus

[vi·rus]

Whether in the human body or on a computer, a virus is a disease causing agent. If you come down with a nasty stomach virus, be sure to drink lots of water, get lots of rest, and stay near the toilet.

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Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific ulcers, the bite of snakes, etc.; -- applied to organic poisons.

Noun
(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

Noun
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"

Noun
a harmful or corrupting agency; "bigotry is a virus that must not be allowed to spread"; "the virus of jealousy is latent in everyone"

v. i.
Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific ulcers, the bite of snakes, etc.; -- applied to organic poisons.

v. i.
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.

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

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. &hand; 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.

Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific ulcers, the bite of snakes, etc.; -- applied to organic poisons.

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Usage Examples

These days, newish art can be priced between $10,000 and $25,000. When I tell artists that a new painting by a newish artist should go for around $1,200, they look at me like I'm a flesh-eating virus.

Most of the trouble in this world has been caused by folks who can't mind their own business, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus has.

Freedom is the most contagious virus known to man.

Misspelled Form

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Other Usage Examples

The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. The government lied.

There's no one place a virus goes to die - but that doesn't make its demise any less a public health victory. Throughout human history, viral diseases have had their way with us, and for just as long, we have hunted them down and done our best to wipe them out.

People called '28 Days' and '28 Weeks' zombie movies, and they're not! It's some sort of virus they're not dead.

When a person tests positive for HIV, it is not a test for the virus itself but for antibodies to the virus, and the test is not able to distinguish between HIV antibodies and a multitude of other antibodies. Many conditions can lead to a false positive result, including flu shots, hepatitis, and pregnancy.