catabolic

American  

[kat-uh-bol-ik] / ˌkæt əˈbɒl ɪk /

adjective

Biology, Physiology.

1. involving or stimulating the breakdown of complex substances into simpler ones as part of the process of metabolism in living organisms (opposed to anabolic).

   The protein catabolic rate is the rate at which proteins break down in the body.

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Other Word Forms

• catabolically adverb

Etymology

Origin of catabolic

catabol(ism) ( def. ) + -ic

Example Sentences

Additionally, ATP is an allosteric regulator of some of the enzymes involved in the catabolic breakdown of sugar, the process that produces ATP.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Physical exercise involves both anabolic and catabolic processes.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Figure 7.18 Glycogen from the liver and muscles, hydrolyzed into glucose-1-phosphate, together with fats and proteins, can feed into the catabolic pathways for carbohydrates.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Several of the intermediate compounds in the citric acid cycle can be used in synthesizing non-essential amino acids; therefore, the cycle is both anabolic and catabolic.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

She has, if you please, become temporarily catabolic.

From A Short History of Women's Rights From the Days of Augustus to the Present Time. with Special Reference to England and the United States. Second Edition Revised, With Additions. by Hecker, Eugene Arthur