fight-or-flight response

[ fīt′ôr-flīt′ ]

Save This Word!

A physiological reaction in response to stress, characterized by an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, elevation of glucose levels in the blood, and redistribution of blood from the digestive tract to the muscles. These changes are caused by activation of the sympathetic nervous system by epinephrine (adrenaline), which prepares the body to challenge or flee from a perceived threat.

QUIZ

CUDDLE UP! A COZY QUIZ ON FALL WORDS HAS ARRIVED

If autumn is your ideal season, spice up your repertoire of "fall" vocabulary with this quiz on some warm and vivid descriptive words for the season.

Question 1 of 10

Which of the following words means “to make a crackling sound; crackle”?

crisp

crepitate

fuscous

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Words nearby fight-or-flight response

fighting words, fight it out, fight off, fight-or-flight, fight-or-flight reaction, fight-or-flight response, fight shy of, fight tooth and nail, figjam, fig leaf, fig marigold

How to use fight-or-flight response in a sentence

As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Gay marriage was the hot-button fight on the left and right.
Jeb Bush’s Unseen Anti-Gay Marriage Emails|Jackie Kucinich|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I think the response of the French government so far has been pretty appropriate in that regard.
Harry Shearer on The Dangerous Business of Satire|Lloyd Grove|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Iraq may have been an irregular fight, but it had major moments.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War|Nancy A. Youssef|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The anti-crime cops began searching the likely path of flight.
Shot Down During the NYPD Slowdown|Michael Daly|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It was more like the boarding of a ship than any land fight I had ever seen or imagined.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
The fight lasted two days, and only two men out of the five hundred escaped with their lives.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
They ran side by side across the yard to a roofed flight of steps that led to the printing-office.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
My one room,” replied that much injured gentleman, “was on the Coffee Room flight.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2(of 2)|Charles Dickens
To make the effort of articulation a vital impulse in response to a mental concept,—this is the object sought.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick