growth hormone


noun
  1. any substance that stimulates or controls the growth of an organism, especially a species-specific hormone, as the human hormone somatotropin, secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. Abbreviation: GH

Origin of growth hormone

1
First recorded in 1920–25

Words Nearby growth hormone

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How to use growth hormone in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for growth hormone

growth hormone

noun
  1. a hormone synthesized in and secreted by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland that promotes growth of the long bones in the limbs and increases the synthesis of protein essential for growth: Also called: somatotrophin, human growth hormone

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 growth hormone

growth hormone

  1. A polypeptide hormone secreted by the anterior portion of the pituitary gland that promotes growth by stimulating protein synthesis. Growth hormone also acts on the liver to produce peptides called somatomedins, which stimulate growth of bone, cartilage, and muscle. Also called somatotropin

  2. Any of various natural or synthetic substances that regulate the growth of plants. Auxins in plants are growth hormones.

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