body mass index

[ bod-ee mas in-deks ]

/ ˈbɒd i ˌmæs ˌɪn dɛks /

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noun

an index for assessing overweight and underweight, obtained by dividing body weight in kilograms by height in meters squared: a measure of 25 or more is considered overweight.

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Also called BMI

[bee-em-ahy] /ˈbiˈɛmˈaɪ/ .

Origin of body mass index

First recorded in 1955–60

Words nearby body mass index

body image, body language, body-line, body louse, body man, body mass index, body mechanics, body mike, body modification, Body of Christ, body packer

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

How to use body mass index in a sentence

These experiences are most prevalent for people with high body mass indexes or those with obesity and for women.
Weight Stigma Is A Burden Around The World – And Has Negative Consequences Everywhere|LGBTQ-Editor|June 7, 2021|No Straight News
Residents in the targeted Zip codes who are pregnant or obese, with a body mass index higher than 30, also are newly eligible.
D.C. vaccine registrations freeze up, then fill up on first day for residents with underlying conditions|Antonio Olivo, Lola Fadulu, Michael Brice-Saddler|February 25, 2021|Washington Post
Abdominal adiposity — excess stomach fat — is associated with increased mortality risk, regardless of body mass index.
Some trainers tout HIIT as the best way to burn belly fat. Here’s what science says.|Pam Moore|December 15, 2020|Washington Post
JaMarcus had lost 108 pounds since he started dialysis, and his body mass index had been hovering around the University of Alabama’s limit for months.
For Years, JaMarcus Crews Tried to Get a New Kidney, but Corporate Healthcare Stood in the Way|by Lizzie Presser|December 15, 2020|ProPublica

The Mi scale, for example, connects to a Mi fitness app that can track body mass index and suggests relevant exercise regimes.
How Chinese phonemaker Xiaomi conquered India—and outperformed Apple|eamonbarrett|December 3, 2020|Fortune
And not just sick in the body but in your mind, because you start obsessing.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In other words, the free speech exhibited by the folks at Charlie Hebdo was not virtuous—until there was a body count.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead|Luke O’Neil|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It jettisons jiggling ribbons of joy to every part of my body.
‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
My body used for his hard pleasure; a stone god gripping me in his hands.
‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“I have to think her body type played a role,” said Rachel Greenblatt, a Lecturer in Jewish Studies at Harvard University.
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America?|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The Duchess had also a tent for their sick men; so that we had a small town of our own here, and every body employed.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)|Daniel Defoe
Charred beams and blackened walls showed stark and gaunt in the glow of a smoldering mass of wreckage.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
The sad end of the mission to King M'Bongo has been narrated in the body of this work.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
But hitherto, before these new ideas began to spread in our community, the mass of men and women definitely settled down.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The evening previous to his death he was walking about the farm, in the full possession of all his faculties of mind and body.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell

British Dictionary definitions for body mass index

body mass index

noun

an index used to indicate whether a person is over- or underweight. It is obtained by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres. An index of 20–25 is normalAbbreviation: BMI

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 body mass index

body mass index

[ bŏd′ē ]

A measurement of the relative percentages of fat and muscle mass in the human body, in which weight in kilograms is divided by height in meters squared. The result is used as an index of obesity.