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
- microenvironmental adjective
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.
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
These biofilms are sticky coatings that wrap around the bacteria, producing a low-oxygen microenvironment suitable for nitrogenase activity.
From Science Daily • Nov. 24, 2025
"But if this stress stays there, which it does in the tumor microenvironment, the cells are just in continuous stress, and that will then lead to a very different phenotype and death," Mehrotra said.
From Science Daily • Nov. 22, 2024
Both T-cells and CAR-T cells can become "exhausted" in the hostile tumor microenvironment.
From Science Daily • Nov. 22, 2024
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 Douglas, Charles L.
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.