metaphase
Americannoun
noun
-
The stage of cell division in which the duplicated chromosomes become aligned along the center of the cell, called the equatorial plate or metaphase plate. Metaphase lasts up to an hour, and ends in mitosis and the second division of meiosis when separation of the paired chromosomal strands (called chromatids) begins. In the first division of meiosis, the paired chromosomes separate from one another. Metaphase is preceded by prophase and followed by anaphase.
Etymology
Origin of metaphase
Explanation
The second stage of mitosis, or cell division, is known as metaphase. During metaphase, the cell's chromosomes line up along its center line. Metaphase com from Greek roots meaning "adjacent or between" and "stage." During this stage, chromosomes stop moving back and forth and are held in the middle of the cell by tube-shaped spirals of protein called microtubules. This prepares the cell for the next stage of mitosis, anaphase, moving it one step closer to dividing.
Vocabulary lists containing metaphase
Cell Biology - Middle School
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Cell Biology - High School
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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.
For almost twenty years, textbooks described CENP-E as a motor that pulled chromosomes to the metaphase plate.
From Science Daily • Dec. 10, 2025
There are three major checkpoints in the cell cycle: one near the end of G1, a second at the G2–M transition, and the third during metaphase.
From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013
Figure 7.4 To demonstrate random, independent assortment at metaphase I, consider a cell with n = 2.
From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013
Sister chromatids line up at the metaphase plate.
From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013
Figure 183 shows a small tangential section of a spindle in metaphase, containing the unequal pair and one equal pair.
From Studies in Spermatogenesis Part I by Stevens, Nettie Maria
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.
