New words – 24 April 2023

artistic representation of a blue virus dissolving into tiny particles
Yuichiro Chino / Moment / Getty

virovore noun [C]
UK /ˈvaɪə.rə.vɔːʳ/ US /ˈvaɪ.rə.vɔːr/
an organism that eats viruses

What if science could harness an organism that had the power to eat viruses? … According to a study published in late 2022 on PNAS, a previously unknown microbe called a “virovore” does just that. Newly defined, virovores sustain themselves by consuming viruses, just like all other living creatures survive by converting energy from other animals and plants.
[grunge.com, 25 February 2023]

Novid noun [C]
UK /ˈnəʊ.vɪd/ US /ˈnoʊ.vɪd/
someone who has never had the Covid-19 virus

If you consider yourself a “Novid,” in other words, someone who has never had COVID, are you mistaken, special, or just plain lucky? Researchers are trying to answer that question.
[cbsnews.com, 4 August 2022]

superdodger noun [C]
UK /ˈsuː.pə.dɒdʒ.əʳ/ US / ˈsuː.pɚ.dɑː.dʒɚ/
someone who is resistant to a particular virus

Over the course of human history, scientists have identified only two instances of true virus superdodgers. That is, where a specific mutation in their genes makes people completely resistant to a virus. So that it slides off their cells, “like water sliding off a glass window,” as Casanova puts it.
[npr.org, 7 September 2022]

About new words

5 thoughts on “New words – 24 April 2023

  1. Someone

    We need to vote to add this words because what Will happen if someone search this words and he or she don’t find them

  2. gloriey_29

    i fully agree that those words must be added 2 the cam.dictionary as those are the specialized words. If sb wanted 2 look them up in the dictionary, what would happen ??

  3. Corynne Boyle

    Corynne.
    Working in the area of Public Health, it is good to see not only new scientific developments, but, how better we can understand and interpret the definition of these words. Moving forward, they might be intrinsic to our vocabulary. Further to the evolving nature of viruses, hopefully there will be improved scientific treatment/outcomes to prevent potential pandemic situations.

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