microenvironment
Americannoun
noun
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The environment of a very small, specific area, distinguished from its immediate surroundings by such factors as the amount of incident light, the degree of moisture, and the range of temperatures. The side of a tree that is shaded from sunlight is a microenvironment that typically supports a somewhat different community of organisms than is found on the side that receives regular light.
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Also called microhabitat
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of microenvironment
First recorded in 1950–55; micro- + environment
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.
They found that hyperglycemia enhanced cancer cells' ability to escape immune detection only when HSF1 was present and the cells were grown under conditions resembling the tumor microenvironment.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
"They may adopt different functions based on certain cues in the microenvironment and in the tissue, and differentiate into a certain kind of sub-population," Sunwoo said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
"That finding alone opens up an entirely new way of understanding and potentially manipulating the immune microenvironment."
From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026
By entering the tumor microenvironment, retinoic acid suppresses immune responses, including the activity of T cells that normally target cancer.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 16, 2026
Such a closed nest would have the advantage of greatly moderating the microenvironment within the nest, and would allow the animal within to remain comfortable with a minimum expenditure of energy.
From Comparative Ecology of Pinyon Mice and Deer Mice in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado by Charles L. Douglas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
