SARS-CoV-2
noun
: the coronavirus (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 of the genus Betacoronavirus) that is the causative agent of COVID-19
Examples of SARS-CoV-2 in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Their new framework does not make any mention of what will happen if a more dangerous SARS-CoV-2 variant emerges.
—
Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 20 May 2025
Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that the virus, SARS-CoV-2, infected 778 million people and killed 7.1 million from the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020 through March 2025.
—Amita Gupta, Baltimore Sun, 7 May 2025
The recency and geographical origins of the bat viruses ancestral to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2
Science.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2025
Republicans have speculated since the beginning of the pandemic that SARS-CoV-2 originated from research projects on bat coronaviruses funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
—Gabrielle M. Etzel, The Washington Examiner, 5 May 2025
The ingredients in some vaccines, such as the COVID shots, have been updated regularly to better match the strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in circulation, without fundamentally changing the vaccines themselves.
—Rob Stein, NPR, 1 May 2025
Overall, the question of SARS-CoV-2's origin has become extremely politicized, as have most other aspects of the pandemic.
—ArsTechnica, 18 Apr. 2025
Long COVID, or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), refers to ongoing or new symptoms that persist weeks or months after the initial COVID-19 illness.
—Mark Weinstein, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2025
The causes of autism, the outcomes of gender-affirming care, and the origins of SARS-CoV-2 are all topics worthy of scientific investigation.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2025
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Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 20 May 2025
Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that the virus, SARS-CoV-2, infected 778 million people and killed 7.1 million from the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020 through March 2025.
—Amita Gupta, Baltimore Sun, 7 May 2025
The recency and geographical origins of the bat viruses ancestral to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2
Science.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2025
Republicans have speculated since the beginning of the pandemic that SARS-CoV-2 originated from research projects on bat coronaviruses funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
—Gabrielle M. Etzel, The Washington Examiner, 5 May 2025
The ingredients in some vaccines, such as the COVID shots, have been updated regularly to better match the strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in circulation, without fundamentally changing the vaccines themselves.
—Rob Stein, NPR, 1 May 2025
Overall, the question of SARS-CoV-2's origin has become extremely politicized, as have most other aspects of the pandemic.
—ArsTechnica, 18 Apr. 2025
Long COVID, or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), refers to ongoing or new symptoms that persist weeks or months after the initial COVID-19 illness.
—Mark Weinstein, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Apr. 2025
The causes of autism, the outcomes of gender-affirming care, and the origins of SARS-CoV-2 are all topics worthy of scientific investigation.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“SARS-CoV-2.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/SARS-CoV-2. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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SARS-CoV-2
noun
: the coronavirus (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 of the genus Betacoronavirus) that is the causative agent of COVID-19 see delta variant, omicron variant
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