metabolism
The chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life.
Example
“The metabolisms of aerobic bacteria require oxygen”
Other meanings
The rate at which these processes occur for a given organism
“Small animals have a much higher metabolism than large animals because they lose more body heat”
The processes that maintain any dynamic system.
Synonyms
- metabolic process
Related words
- cardiometabolism
- metabolite
- metabolome
- metametabolism
- normometabolism
- proteometabolism
- psychometabolism
- selenometabolism
- tachymetabolism
- ametabolism
- bradymetabolism
- chronometabolism
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “metabolism” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.