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hypertrophy

American  
[hahy-pur-truh-fee] / haɪˈpɜr trə fi /

noun

  • hypertrophies
    plural
  1. abnormal enlargement of a part or organ; excessive growth.

  2. excessive growth or accumulation of any kind.


verb (used with or without object)

  • hypertrophies,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • hypertrophied,
    past participle,  past
  • hypertrophying
    present participle
  1. to affect with or undergo hypertrophy.

hypertrophy British  
/ ˌhaɪpəˈtrɒfɪk, haɪˈpɜːtrəfɪ /

noun

  1. enlargement of an organ or part resulting from an increase in the size of the cells Compare atrophy hyperplasia

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to undergo or cause to undergo this condition

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

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Etymology

Origin of hypertrophy

First recorded in 1825–35; hyper- + -trophy

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

For example, the diabetic human heart organoids were larger, suggesting signs of cardiac hypertrophy -- a first hallmark of maternal pregestational diabetes.

From Science Daily Feb. 8, 2024

When you do strength training, over time, exercises that at first felt difficult become easier as your muscles increase in strength and size — a process called hypertrophy.

From Washington Post Feb. 12, 2022

Other researchers have noted that years of repeated use can accelerate hypertrophy, the increase of muscle cells.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 4, 2021

This kind of hypertrophy, as it’s called, is frequently seen in patients who have high blood pressure, when the heart has to work hard to squeeze its payload into the bloodstream.

From New York Times Jul. 28, 2021

She was a frosty girl, plain and colorless, who protected herself against a world she disliked by a mask-like expression and a hypertrophy of intellect.

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

This results in the look of “six-pack abs,” as each segment hypertrophies on individuals at the gym who do many sit-ups.

From Textbooks Jun. 19, 2013

A, Immediately after removal of the intubation tube; hypertrophies like turbinals are seen projecting into the subglottic lumen.

From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Chevalier Jackson

This causes passive congestion of the lungs, and the right ventricle finds that it must labor to overcome the increased resistance in the pulmonary artery, and hypertrophies to overcome this increased amount of work.

From Disturbances of the Heart by Oliver T. (Oliver Thomas) Osborne

This law, indicated by Aristotle, but clearly outlined by Goethe in 1807, and Geoffroy St. Hilaire in 1818, underlies the physiological atrophies and hypertrophies which play such a part in degeneracy.

From Degeneracy Its Causes, Signs and Results by Eugene S. Talbot

The heart in hyperpiesis hypertrophies and dilates, but such a heart is the result, not an integral part, of the arterial disease.

From Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension: with Chapters on Blood Pressure, 3rd Edition. by Louis Marshall Warfield

It is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes overgrown or "hypertrophied".

From BBC Jan. 3, 2023

Kirby’s hyperkinetic figures with hypertrophied muscles left human anatomy in the dust.

From The Guardian Aug. 17, 2019

Or what about those profitless but hypertrophied creatures of the dot-com boom, such as theglobe.com? In 1999 a company called Pixelon raised $35 million, Mr. McCullough notes, to develop video and audio streaming.

From The Wall Street Journal Nov. 1, 2018

They had names like Alec, Avery and Shawn; they were, for transhumanists, a startlingly frat-brovian contingent, all laid-back Texan vibes, loosefitting vests, hypertrophied upper bodies.

From New York Times Feb. 9, 2017

The papillæ of the skin are often slightly hypertrophied.

From Essentials of Diseases of the Skin Including the Syphilodermata Arranged in the Form of Questions and Answers Prepared Especially for Students of Medicine by Henry Weightman Stelwagon

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