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# virus

noun (a virus, viruses)

«virus» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A virus is a tiny germ, much too small to see, that gets inside living cells and can make people, animals or plants ill. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/#m1)
2. A computer virus is a harmful program that spreads between computers and damages them or steals information. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science and health, viruses cause colds, flu, chickenpox and measles; they spread by coughs, sneezes and dirty hands, so washing hands and covering sneezes helps. Antibiotics do not kill viruses; vaccines can protect against some of them. In computing and online safety, do not open strange links or attachments, because they may carry a computer virus; antivirus software protects computers.

### Examples

- A cold is caused by a virus. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/#x1)
- Wash your hands to stop viruses spreading. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/#x2)
- The flu vaccine protects you from the flu virus. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/#x3)
- Viruses are much smaller than bacteria. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/#x4)
- Antibiotics don't work against viruses. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/#x5)
- The email had a virus, so Dad deleted it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/#x6)
- The virus spread quickly through the class. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/#x7)

### Note

Plural «viruses» (not «virii» or «viri»). A virus is not the same as bacteria: bacteria are living cells and some can be treated with antibiotics; viruses cannot. «Viral» = caused by a virus, or (online) spreading fast. Both «virus» and «germ» are used; germ is a general word.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «virus» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/V/virus/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«virus» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/virus.html) on Mova free.