Find the word definition

Crossword clues for antimicrobial

Wiktionary
antimicrobial

a. 1 tending to destroy or capable of destroying microbes 2 inhibiting the growth of microbes 3 preventing or counteracting the pathogenic action of microbes alt. 1 tending to destroy or capable of destroying microbes 2 inhibiting the growth of microbes 3 preventing or counteracting the pathogenic action of microbes n. an agent that destroys microbes, inhibits their growth, or prevents or counteracts their pathogenic action

WordNet
antimicrobial
  1. adj. capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of disease-causing microorganisms [syn: antimicrobic]

  2. n. an agent (as heat or radiation or a chemical) that destroys microorganisms that might carry disease [syn: disinfectant, germicide, antimicrobic]

Wikipedia
Antimicrobial

An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or inhibits their growth. Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria and antifungals are used against fungi. They can also be classified according to their function. Agents that kill microbes are called microbicidal, while those that merely inhibit their growth are called biostatic. The use of antimicrobial medicines to treat infection is known as antimicrobial chemotherapy, while the use of antimicrobial medicines to prevent infection is known as antimicrobial prophylaxis.

The main classes of antimicrobial agents are disinfectants ("nonselective antimicrobials" such as bleach), which kill a wide range of microbes on non-living surfaces to prevent the spread of illness, antiseptics (which are applied to living tissue and help reduce infection during surgery), and antibiotics (which destroy microorganisms within the body). The term "antibiotic" originally described only those formulations derived from living organisms but is now also applied to synthetic antimicrobials, such as the sulphonamides, or fluoroquinolones. The term also used to be restricted to antibacterials (and is often used as a synonym for them by medical professionals and in medical literature), but its context has broadened to include all antimicrobials. Antibacterial agents can be further subdivided into bactericidal agents, which kill bacteria, and bacteriostatic agents, which slow down or stall bacterial growth.

Use of substances with antimicrobial properties is known to have been common practice for at least 2000 years. Ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks used specific molds and plant extracts to treat infection. More recently, microbiologists such as Louis Pasteur and Jules Francois Joubert observed antagonism between some bacteria and discussed the merits of controlling these interactions in medicine. In 1928, Alexander Fleming became the first to discover a natural antimicrobial fungus known as Penicillium rubens. The substance extracted from the fungus he named penicillin and in 1942 it was successfully used to treat a Streptococcus infection. Penicillin also proved successful in the treatment of many other infectious diseases such as gonorrhea, strep throat and pneumonia, which were potentially fatal to patients until then.

Many antimicrobial agents exist, for use against a wide range of infectious diseases.

Usage examples of "antimicrobial".

Antiretroviral drugs to control HIV and antimicrobials to control secondary infections can prolong life, but eventually the immune system becomes so damaged that patients are considered immunodeficient and death usually follows in a few years.

CohenEpidemiology of Drug Resistance: Implication for a Post Antimicrobial Era.

They've been giving you antimicrobials, and an analogue's on the way.

If they come down with it, or the supply of antimicrobials gives out, this century could be the one that's a ten.

We have him on the antimicrobials and adjuvants which the South Carolina virus responded to.

They ran out, as Finch had predicted, of clean linens and NHS masks, and more urgently, of temps, antimicrobials, and aspirin.

If they come down with it, or the supply of antimicrobials gives out, this century could be the one that's a ten.

We have him on the antimicrobials and adjuvants which the South Carolina virus responded to.

They ran out, as Finch had predicted, of clean linens and NHS masks, and more urgently, of temps, antimicrobials, and aspirin.