metabolism

CEFRB2

/mɪˈtab.ə.lɪz.əm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The chemical processes that turn food into energy in a living body.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The processes that maintain any dynamic system.

Examples

  • The relationship between epilepsy and glucose metabolism was established more than 85 years ago.

  • Tom suffers from several disorders of the metabolism.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1

Also pronounced

  • /məˈtæb.əˌlɪz.əm/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The rate at which these processes occur for a given organism

  2. The chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life.

More examples

In context

  • Small animals have a much higher metabolism than large animals because they lose more body heat

  • The metabolisms of aerobic bacteria require oxygen

  • The results of this generalized speedup of the corporate metabolism are multiple: shorter product life cycles, more leasing and renting, more frequent buying and selling, more ephemeral consumption patterns, […]

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

A person's blank determines the number of calories they burn at rest.

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

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Ancient Greek μεταβολή (metabolḗ, “change”) + -ism, from μεταβάλλω (metabállō, “to change, to alter”) + -η (-ē, action noun suffix).