metastasize
[muh-tas-tuh-sahyz]
verb (used without object), me·tas·ta·sized, me·tas·ta·siz·ing.
Pathology. (of malignant cells or disease-producing organisms) to spread to other parts of the body by way of the blood or lymphatic vessels or membranous surfaces.
to spread injuriously: Street gangs have metastasized in our city.
to transform, especially into a dangerous form: The KGB metastasized after the fall of the Soviet Union. Truth metastasized into lurid fantasy.
Also especially British, me·tas·ta·sise.
Origin of metastasize
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for metastasize
permeate, drain, clean, leak, winnow, sift, refine, percolate, penetrate, trickle, dribble, clarify, screen, purify, distill, strain, ooze, escape, sieve, exudeExamples from the Web for metastasize
Contemporary Examples of metastasize
When politicians use ethnic mobilization to promote their agendas, violence can metastasize quickly.
George Clooney on How to Stop An Inferno in South SudanGeorge Clooney, John Prendergast
December 20, 2013
What starts out as Casual Friday must metastasize eventually into Slumming Sunday.
metastasize
metastasise
verb (intr)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
metastasize
[mə-tăs′tə-sīz′]
v.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
metastasis
[mə-tăs′tə-sĭs]
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.