A bacterium with a shape intermediate between a coccus (sphere) and a bacillus (rod), appearing as a short, thick rod or oval.
From 'coccus' (spherical bacterium) plus 'bacillus' (rod bacterium), literally 'something between a coccus and bacillus'.
The bacteria that caused the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic was initially thought to be a coccobacillus before scientists discovered it was actually a virus, showing how shape alone can mislead microbiologists.
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