metabolism
Americannoun
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metabolisms
plural
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Biology, Physiology. the sum of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which its material substance is produced, maintained, and destroyed, and by which energy is made available.
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any basic process of organic functioning or operating.
changes in the country's economic metabolism.
noun
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the sum total of the chemical processes that occur in living organisms, resulting in growth, production of energy, elimination of waste material, etc See anabolism basal metabolism catabolism
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the sum total of the chemical processes affecting a particular substance in the body
carbohydrate metabolism
iodine metabolism
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The chemical processes by which cells produce the substances and energy needed to sustain life. As part of metabolism, organic compounds are broken down to provide heat and energy in the process called catabolism. Simpler molecules are also used to build more complex compounds like proteins for growth and repair of tissues as part of anabolism. Many metabolic processes are brought about by the action of enzymes. The overall speed at which an organism carries out its metabolic processes is termed its metabolic rate (or, when the organism is at rest, its basal metabolic rate). Birds, for example, have a high metabolic rate, since they are warm-blooded, and their usual method of locomotion, flight, requires large amounts of energy. Accordingly, birds usually need large amounts of high-quality, energy-rich foods such as seeds or meat, which they must eat frequently.
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See more at cellular respiration
Discover More
In humans, metabolism is related to the intake and use of food; persons with a high metabolism can eat more without gaining weight.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of metabolism
First recorded in 1875–80; from Greek metabol(ḗ) “change” (from meta- meta- + bolḗ “a throw”) + -ism
Compare meaning
How does metabolism compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Your metabolism is the result of all the processes in your body working together to create the energy that keeps you going. Your metabolism is the rate at which your body's many processes function, and it can be low, high, or somewhere in the middle. When you're younger, your high metabolism makes it easy to lose weight but as you get older your metabolism slows down and you might put on a few pounds. Exercising speeds up your metabolism. This word also refers to the sudden transformation of a larva into an adult in some animals.
Vocabulary lists containing metabolism
The Things They Carried
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Power Suffix: -ism
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"Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center," Vocabulary from the speech
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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.
See Examples For:
More and more, diners are leaning into “proteinmaxxing,” the viral health trend that promotes increased protein intake with the goal of boosting metabolism, decreasing appetite and increasing muscle mass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
Using a mouse model, the researchers combined several experimental approaches while tracking body weight, food consumption, metabolism, and energy expenditure during semaglutide treatment.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
The second showed that several biologically important metabolites usually credited to gut microbes can also be produced in substantial amounts by mammalian metabolism.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
Using isotope tracing in mice, rats and human cells, the researchers found that mammalian metabolism can produce many indole and phenol metabolites on its own.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
Each of the three microbiology experiments asked a different kind of question, but in all cases a question about Martian metabolism.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The results point to one major difference: species whose metabolisms were less able to cope with warmer, oxygen poor water suffered the highest extinction rates.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
Fish, mobile snails, sea urchins, and bivalves such as clams, oysters, and mussels all require faster metabolisms to support movement and, in many cases, predatory lifestyles.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
The higher temperatures promote algae growth by allowing their metabolisms to shift into overdrive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
The authors also contest Herculano-Houzel's assumption that one can predict different dinosaurs' metabolisms, aging rates and other life history traits based on the existing data.
From Salon ● May 4, 2024
Invariably, on other planets, that has meant higher metabolisms in the fauna.
From The Test Colony by Winston K. Marks
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.
