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Glite Dictionary
🦠 A cell tail 🥢 A whip 🤖 A motor tail
flagellum

flagellum

9.4
A small motor-driven tail on tiny robots that makes them move
  • noun
  • /fləˈdʒɛləm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : flagelo sintético
  • The bio-bots, which are made primarily out of a flexible hydrogel, move using a long leg that acts like a flagellum.

Examples

  • The microrobot's flagellum propels it through water by rotating swiftly, mimicking the motion of a fish tail.

  • To study its propulsion, scientists observed how the flagellum of the synthetic robot mimics natural organisms.

  • Engineers designed the flagellum of the new nanobot to optimize its movement efficiency in fluid environments.

Compounds

Masticophis flagellum
  • Specialized
9.9

A slender fast snake with a long tail like a braided whip

Surface Forms

flagellum singular
flagella plural

Etymology

Flagellum is also used for tiny, man-made tails because engineers copied the biological 'little whip' to make small robots move. That is why an artificial flagellum is a built 'whip' that pushes or spins to give propulsion.