biomass

CEFRC1

/ˈbaɪə(ʊ)mæs/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    plant materials and animal waste used as fuel.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Organic matter from living things which were recently alive (especially vegetation) used as a fuel or source of energy, especially if cultivated for that purpose; also, fuel produced from such organic matter; biofuel.

Examples

  • Jellyfish make up up to 40% of the biomass of the ocean.

  • This fungus maintains its biomass under the soil.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈbaɪoʊˌmæs/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The total mass of a living thing or a part thereof (such as a cell).

  2. The total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.

More examples

In context

  • In the untouched Shangri-la-like Kingman Reef in the Line Islands in the central Pacific, sharks make up 75 per cent of the fish biomass.

  • Since protein constitutes the majority of the biomass of a cell, building new protein is a major way that cells increase their size.

  • All vegetation and tree stumps were sent to a local recycling facility to be turned into biomass.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The power plant uses plant blank as a renewable fuel source.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From bio- (prefix denoting organic life) + mass (“matter, material”).