CYANOBACTERIA

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cyanobacteria mean? 

• CYANOBACTERIA (noun)
  The noun CYANOBACTERIA has 1 sense:

1. predominantly photosynthetic prokaryotic organisms containing a blue pigment in addition to chlorophyll; occur singly or in colonies in diverse habitats; important as phytoplankton

  Familiarity information: CYANOBACTERIA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CYANOBACTERIA (noun)

Meaning:

Predominantly photosynthetic prokaryotic organisms containing a blue pigment in addition to chlorophyll; occur singly or in colonies in diverse habitats; important as phytoplankton

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

blue-green algae; cyanobacteria

Hypernyms ("cyanobacteria" is a kind of...):

eubacteria; eubacterium; true bacteria (a large group of bacteria having rigid cell walls; motile types have flagella)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cyanobacteria"):

nostoc (found in moist places as rounded jellylike colonies)

trichodesmium (large colonial bacterium common in tropical open-ocean waters; important in carbon and nitrogen fixation)

Holonyms ("cyanobacteria" is a member of...):

class Cyanobacteria; class Cyanophyceae; Cyanophyceae (photosynthetic bacteria found in fresh and salt water, having chlorophyll a and phycobilins; once thought to be algae: blue-green algae)