germ (n.)

  1. anything that provides inspiration for later work

    [ Syn: source , seed ]

  2. a small apparently simple structure (as a fertilized egg) from which new tissue can develop into a complete organism

  3. a minute life form (especially a disease-causing bacterium); the term is not in technical use

    [ Syn: microbe , bug ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
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