endothermic
Americanadjective
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Chemistry. noting or pertaining to a chemical change that is accompanied by an absorption of heat (opposed to exothermic).
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Zoology. warm-blooded.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of endothermic
Compare meaning
How does endothermic compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An endothermic reaction is one that absorbs or uses heat energy. Just ask a melting snowman about it. What do green leaves, boiled eggs, and split gas molecules have in common? They have all undergone endothermic reactions, absorbing heat. But just because there’s heat involved doesn’t mean an endothermic reaction is the cause. Its polar — er thermal — opposite, exothermic describes a reaction that makes or gives off heat. It can be easy to confuse the two, but if you can remember that endo means “in” and exo means "out," the heat might not get to you so much.
Vocabulary lists containing endothermic
Chemistry - High School
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The ACT Science Test: Physics Review
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Chemistry: Chemical Reactions
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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.
On the other hand, being endothermic could have also contributed to megalodon's extinction, since constantly regulating body temperature like this would have expended more energy and thus required more food.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2025
Melting, vaporization, and sublimation are all endothermic processes, requiring an input of heat to overcome intermolecular attractions.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
A reaction or change that absorbs heat is an endothermic process.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Cooling an exothermic reaction causes the reaction to shift toward the product side; cooling an endothermic reaction would cause it to shift to the reactants’ side.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
A single substance like gun-cotton, which is highly endothermic and gives gaseous products, will produce a bright flame of decomposition if a single piece be heated in an evacuated flask.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4 "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre" by Various
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.
