metastasize
Americanverb (used without object)
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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.
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to spread injuriously.
Street gangs have metastasized in our city.
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to transform, especially into a dangerous form.
The KGB metastasized after the fall of the Soviet Union. Truth metastasized into lurid fantasy.
verb
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pathol (esp of cancer cells) to spread to a new site in the body via blood or lymph vessels
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(of a problem) to deteriorate or spread into new areas
Etymology
Origin of metastasize
First recorded in 1905–10; metastas(is) + -ize
Explanation
When things metastasize, they grow and spread. Cancer cells are said to metastasize when they spread from one part of the body to another. A cancer patient dreads hearing the word metastasize, since it means that the malignant cells have spread through the body. Breast cancer cells are said to metastasize, for example, if they're found by a doctor in a patient's liver or brain. The process of this happening is known as metastasis. Both words come from the Late Latin metastasis, or "transition," with the Greek root word metastasis, "removal, migration, change, or revolution."
Vocabulary lists containing metastasize
The Kite Runner
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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The Fault in Our Stars
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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:
Many of them have been kicking the tires on the AI trade for years now, highlighting potential risks that could someday metastasize into bigger problems for the market.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Other research suggests that cancer cells may move along nerves as they leave the original tumor and metastasize.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
My mom’s cancer was diagnosed late and she was bounced from one provider to another, ultimately allowing her disease to metastasize past the point of no return.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2024
Every man in the film is repellent, even the hunks, and as the film goes on, they metastasize into an anonymous graying horde.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2024
Without those limitations, copyright law will bloat and metastasize into a claim of monopoly, or at least control, over the very architectures of our communications technology.
From The Public Domain Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by James Boyle
Since Starbucks first introduced the drink category in 2012, they’ve quickly metastasized across menus, becoming the popular secret third thing for those who aren’t into the taste or price tag of coffee or matcha.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
“A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer, which has metastasized to my bones,” she wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Unknown to her, the malignancy metastasized during her pregnancy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Over the past year, the Epstein files have metastasized into a defining symbol of elite impunity.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
Others mistook malignant changes for infection, sending women home with antibiotics only to have them return later, dying from metastasized cancer.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Sakaguchi said that he wanted to continue researching how to enhance immune responses in cancer and to potentially prevent cancer cells from spreading and metastasizing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
Prof Rahul Roychoudhuri, from the University of Cambridge, told me: "What we've discovered is that aspirin might work, surprisingly, by unleashing the power of the immune system to recognize and kill metastasizing cancer cells."
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2025
“These facts imply a metastasizing solvency crisis that continues to be misdiagnosed as a liquidity problem in many of the poorest countries,” Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s chief economist, wrote in the report.
From New York Times ● Dec. 3, 2024
But there is a simmering rage in the electorate, and it is metastasizing.
From Salon ● Feb. 16, 2024
I imagined the tumor metastasizing into my own bones, boring holes into my skeleton, a slithering eel of insidious intent.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
