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# pathogen

«pathogen» in Mova's school dictionary: **A tiny living thing, such as a bacterium, virus or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a pathogen, pathogens)

### meaning for a pupil

A tiny living thing, such as a bacterium, virus or fungus, that can cause disease. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pathogen/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In science and health lessons it explains how illnesses spread and how the immune system, vaccines, soap and cooking food properly protect us. Phrases: harmful pathogens, kill pathogens, spread of pathogens.

### examples

- A pathogen is a germ that makes you ill. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pathogen/#x1)
- Viruses and bacteria can be pathogens. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pathogen/#x2)
- Washing your hands removes many pathogens. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pathogen/#x3)
- Cooking chicken properly kills the pathogens in it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pathogen/#x4)
- White blood cells fight pathogens in the body. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pathogen/#x5)
- Not all bacteria are pathogens; some help us digest food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pathogen/#x6)

### note

Countable. Formal science word; in everyday talk people say germ. Adjective: pathogenic. Most microbes are harmless, so pathogen does not mean every germ.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «pathogen» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pathogen/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.
