anaerobic

[ an-uh-roh-bik, an-ai- ]

/ ˌæn əˈroʊ bɪk, ˌæn ɛə- /

Save This Word!

adjective

(of an organism or tissue) living in the absence of air or free oxygen.

pertaining to or caused by the absence of oxygen.

COMPARE MEANINGS

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of anaerobic

First recorded in 1880–85; anaerobe + -ic

OTHER WORDS FROM anaerobic

an·aer·o·bi·cal·ly, adverb

Words nearby anaerobic

Anadyr, Anadyr Range, anaemia, anaemic, anaerobe, anaerobic, anaerobic digestion, anaerobiosis, anaesthesia, anaesthesiology, anaesthetic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use anaerobic in a sentence

Then we settle into a pace relatively close to critical power, where we’re only nibbling away very slowly at anaerobic capacity.
The Physiology of the Finishing Kick|Alex Hutchinson|January 26, 2021|Outside Online
You can run above critical speed for a while, but you’re using up your finite reserves of anaerobic capacity—and once they’re done, you’re cooked.
The Physiology of the Finishing Kick|Alex Hutchinson|January 26, 2021|Outside Online
Some kinds of bacteria are so good at anaerobic respiration that they don’t bother with oxygen at all.
Scientists Say: Respiration|Bethany Brookshire|January 11, 2021|Science News For Students
Once you start pushing hard, you simply can’t supply enough energy aerobically, so you have to start adding in some anaerobic energy—regardless of how much oxygen your muscles have.
What Does Your “Threshold” Really Mean?|Alex Hutchinson|December 2, 2020|Outside Online

That’s what we would call the lactate threshold these days, and it corresponds to what Wasserman called the anaerobic threshold.
What Does Your “Threshold” Really Mean?|Alex Hutchinson|December 2, 2020|Outside Online
In the fall of 2010, it bought an anaerobic digestion project then under construction in London, Ontario.
Will Food Waste Power Your Home?|The Daily Beast|June 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In anaerobic digesters, organic material is mixed on a huge pot with massive quantities of tiny bacteria.
Will Food Waste Power Your Home?|The Daily Beast|June 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The farm plans to utilize an anaerobic digester to gather waste such as left-over plant roots to generate power.
Vertical Indoor Farms Are Growing in the U.S.|Miranda Green|May 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
What had been coiled taut in anaerobic tension in Rage and Yoga has unstacked and stretched out in the sun here.
Geoff Dyer Takes on Andrei Tarkovsky’s Film ‘Stalker’ in ‘Zona’|Chris Wallace|February 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The anaerobic conditions likewise favor the multiplication of intestinal bacteria, and also their fermentative activity.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique|John William Henry Eyre
Pour similar sets of plates in glucose formate gelatine and agar and incubate in Bulloch's anaerobic apparatus.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique|John William Henry Eyre
The enumeration of the anaerobic organisms (including the facultative anaerobes).
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique|John William Henry Eyre
This prevents an extension of the injury and the establishment of a good field for the growth of anaerobic bacteria.
Lameness of the Horse|John Victor Lacroix
The second compartment is inhabited by anaerobic bacteria, or forms of microscopic life that work practically without air.
Farm Mechanics|Herbert A. Shearer

British Dictionary definitions for anaerobic

anaerobic

/ (ˌænɛəˈrəʊbɪk) /

adjective

(of an organism or process) requiring the absence of or not dependent on the presence of oxygen

of or relating to anaerobes

Compare aerobic

Derived forms of anaerobic

anaerobically, adverb

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

Scientific definitions for anaerobic

anaerobic

[ ăn′ə-rō′bĭk ]

Occurring in the absence of oxygen or not requiring oxygen to live. Anaerobic bacteria produce energy from food molecules without the presence of oxygen. Compare aerobic.

Cultural definitions for anaerobic

anaerobic

[ (an-uh-roh-bik, an-air-oh-bik) ]

A descriptive term for a process, such as fermentation, that can proceed only in the absence of oxygen, or a living thing that can survive only in the absence of oxygen. (Compare aerobic.)