metastasize

[muh-tas-tuh-sahyz]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR metastasize ON THESAURUS.COM

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

First recorded in 1905–10; metastas(is) + -ize

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, exude

Examples 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 Sudan
George Clooney, John Prendergast
December 20, 2013
What starts out as Casual Friday must metastasize eventually into Slumming Sunday.
Our Sweatpants Nightmare
Sean Macaulay
January 17, 2010

British Dictionary definitions for metastasize

metastasize

metastasise

verb (intr)

pathol (esp of cancer cells) to spread to a new site in the body via blood or lymph vessels

(of a problem) to deteriorate or spread into new areas

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

Word Origin and History for metastasize

1826, from metastasis + -ize. Related: Metastasized; metastasizing.

metastasize in Medicine