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• lysis
  lysis

  noun

  the dissolution or destruction of cells by lysins.
• -lysis
  -lysis

  a combining form with the meaning “breaking down, loosening, decomposition,” used in the formation of compound words.

lysis

¹ American  

[lahy-sis] / ˈlaɪ sɪs /

noun

• lyses
  plural

1. Immunology, Biochemistry. the dissolution or destruction of cells by lysins.

2. Medicine/Medical. the gradual recession of a disease.

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-lysis ² American  

1. a combining form with the meaning “breaking down, loosening, decomposition,” used in the formation of compound words.

   analysis; electrolysis; paralysis.

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lysis ¹ British  

/ ˈlaɪsɪs /

noun

1. the destruction or dissolution of cells by the action of a particular lysin

2. med the gradual reduction in severity of the symptoms of a disease

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-lysis ² British  

combining form

1. indicating a loosening, decomposition, or breaking down

   electrolysis

   paralysis

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lysis Scientific  

/ lī′sĭs /

1. The disintegration of a cell resulting from destruction of its membrane by a chemical substance, especially an antibody or enzyme.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lyses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lysis¹

1815–25; < New Latin < Greek lýsis a loosening, releasing, equivalent to ly-, variant stem of lȳ́ ( ein ) to loosen, release + -sis -sis

Origin of -lysis²

From Greek; see origin at lysis

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lysis lyses

When the system was overactivated, many cells underwent lysis.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2026

The paper is titled "Convergent MurJ flippase inhibition by phage lysis proteins."

From Science Daily ● Feb. 28, 2026

And then there’s the fourth moment, which is what Jung called the lysis, where the energy of your life wants to go.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2024

Predict the radius of infection if the infection process involved a sequence of entry, replication, lysis, and infection of an adjacent cell.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

The pneumonia did not end by crisis but by lysis and for weeks he had very little sleep.

From Psychotherapy by James J. (James Joseph) Walsh

Intracellularly, infected cells typically die after the infecting pathogen replicates to a sufficient concentration and lyses the cell, as many viruses do.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022