tobacco mosaic virus

noun

: a single-stranded RNA virus (Tobamovirus tabaci of the family Virgaviridae) that occurs worldwide and causes mosaic disease in plants (such as tobacco and tomato) especially of the nightshade family

Examples of tobacco mosaic virus in a Sentence

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That something, now called the tobacco mosaic virus, appears on this page (magnified and colorized). — Jocelyn Rice, Discover Magazine, 19 Apr. 2010 But their pioneering work on tobacco mosaic virus opened the door to a century of research that has revealed a diverse range of viral structures and strategies for survival. — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Mar. 2020 Scientists were only first able to visualize a virus, the tobacco mosaic virus, after the 1931 invention of the electron microscope. — Jonathan Runstadler, Scientific American, 11 Mar. 2018 Consider selecting varieties resistant to fusarium and verticillium wilts, tobacco mosaic virus, and/or nematodes. — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 9 Mar. 2026 The scientists demonstrated that tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) spontaneously formed when mixtures of purified coat protein and its genomic RNA were incubated together. — Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tobacco mosaic virus was in 1914

Rhymes for tobacco mosaic virus

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Browse Nearby Words

tobacco mosaic
tobacco mosaic virus
tobacco moth
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Cite this Entry

“Tobacco mosaic virus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tobacco%20mosaic%20virus. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on tobacco mosaic virus

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about tobacco mosaic virus

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