Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

metastasis

American  
[muh-tas-tuh-sis] / məˈtæs tə sɪs /

noun

plural

metastases

  1. Pathology.

    1. the transference of disease-producing organisms or of malignant or cancerous cells to other parts of the body by way of the blood or lymphatic vessels or membranous surfaces.

    2. the condition produced by this.

  2. transformation.

  3. Rhetoric. a rapid transition, as from one subject to another.

  4. Physics. a change in position or orbit of an elementary particle.

metastasis British  
/ mɪˈtæstəsɪs, ˌmɛtəˈstætɪk /

noun

  1. pathol the spreading of a disease, esp cancer cells, from one part of the body to another

  2. a transformation or change, as in rhetoric, from one point to another

  3. a rare word for metabolism

"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
metastasis Scientific  
/ mə-tăs′tə-sĭs /

  1. A cancerous tumor formed by transmission of malignant cells from a primary cancer located elsewhere in the body.

Other Word Forms

  • metastatic adjective
  • metastatically adverb

Etymology

Origin of metastasis

First recorded in 1580–90, metastasis is from the Greek word metástasis “a changing”; meta-, stasis

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.

This early nerve invasion raises the risk of metastasis and is closely tied to how aggressive the disease becomes.

From Science Daily

These monocytes normally help cancer cells evade immune defenses and support the growth of metastases.

From Science Daily

"Since then, we've discovered its mechanism of action in breast cancer growth, metastasis and immune exhaustion and developed an antibody to block SFRP2."

From Science Daily

After the mice were given cancer cells that formed lung metastases, treatment with the AbLec led to fewer lung metastases than treatment with trastuzumab alone.

From Science Daily

A major validation of this approach came from a melanoma trial that delivered results few expected: a 49% reduction in cancer recurrence and a 62% reduction in deadly distant metastases.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.