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🦠 Kills germs 🦠 A germ killer
antimicrobial

antimicrobial

3 5.1
That kills or stops the growth of germs that cause disease
  • adjective
  • /ˌæntɪmaɪˈkroʊbiəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : antimicrobiano
  • Hospitals use antimicrobial coatings on surfaces to reduce the spread of germs among patients.
  • antimicrobial drugs
  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • Antimicrobial susceptibility

Use a very pure and non antimicrobial soap.

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Examples

  • This is an antimicrobial that's definitely going to mess with your gut microbiome.

  • Parenteral or oral antimicrobial drugs were given to 73.8% of patients before adenovirus infection was diagnosed.

    Academic text (2012)

  • All samples included in this study were from children who had not received antimicrobial therapy for at least 3 weeks.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Plus, they come with an antimicrobial footbed.

    Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

  • Survival rates dropped when antimicrobial treatment was delayed to within the sixth hour.

    Academic text (2017)

  • The rapid increase in antimicrobial resistance in Europe and the world is jeopardizing modern healthcare.

    Academic text (2015)

  • There are ventilation systems incorporating antimicrobial technology which could reduce spread in indoor settings.

  • In these patients, systemic antimicrobial therapy is frequently recommended in addition to ototopical medication.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The outbreak subsided after implementation of antimicrobial drug prophylaxis and enhanced infection control measures.

    Academic text (2012)

  • A total of 549 E. coli strains were recovered and tested for resistance to 12 antimicrobial agents.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

antimicrobic
vsantimicrobial
  • Specialized
6.6

Able to kill germs and stop their growth

is the same meaning but appears in a different word form
germicidal
vsantimicrobial
6.8

Able to kill germs or stop them from growing

targets microbes that cause disease rather than all microbes
microbicidal
vsantimicrobial
  • Specialized
7.7

Able to kill germs like bacteria and viruses

also covers preventing growth rather than only killing

How Antimicrobial

sterilization
  • Specialized
3 4.5
bactericidal
  • Specialized
6.6
antimicrobial
  • Specialized
3 5.1
antiseptic
  • Specialized
3 3.7
inactive
3 2.7

Surface Forms

antimicrobial positive

Morphology

antimicrobial = microbial (transparent) = anti + microbe + ial

The word is a straightforward prefixation of 'anti-' to 'microbial', with the meaning 'against microbes' readily recoverable from the parts.

Etymology

Antimicrobial comes from anti- meaning 'against' and micro- meaning 'small', the same micro- you see in microscope. So antimicrobial describes something that acts 'against' tiny living things called microbes and can stop or kill them.