MYCOPLASMA

[my.co.plas.ma] n, pl -mas or -ma.ta [NL] (1955): any of a genus (Mycoplasma) of minute pleomorphic gram-negative chiefly nonmotile microorganisms without cell walls that are intermediate in some respects between viruses and bacteria and are mostly parasitic usu. in mammals--called also pleuropneumonia-like organism -- my.co.plas.mal adj