warm-blooded
Americanadjective
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Also designating or pertaining to animals, as mammals and birds, whose blood ranges in temperatures from about 98° to 112°F (37° to 44°C) and remains relatively constant, irrespective of the temperature of the surrounding medium; homoiothermal.
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ardent, impetuous, or passionate.
young and warm-blooded valor.
adjective
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ardent, impetuous, or passionate
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Technical name: homoiothermic. (of birds and mammals) having a constant body temperature, usually higher than the temperature of the surroundings
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of warm-blooded
First recorded in 1785–95
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Explanation
A warm-blooded animal can keep its body temperature higher (or lower) than the environment around it. Humans, crows, and cats are all warm-blooded; spiders, snakes, and goldfish are not. The more scientific term for a warm-blooded animal is an endotherm, or an animal that uses its metabolism to regulate its body temperature. If you take your temperature while standing in the snow, it will be nearly the same as when you're hanging out on the beach in the summer — because you're a warm-blooded endotherm. Animals that don't fall into this category, like reptiles and insects, are cold-blooded, also known as ectotherms.
Vocabulary lists containing warm-blooded
Life Science: Organisms and Taxonomy
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Animals (Zoology) - Introductory
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Animals (Zoology) - Middle 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.
“That seems counterintuitive because we cherish warmbloodedness in ourselves as this great evolutionary innovation, which it was,” Dr. Brusatte said.
From New York Times • May 28, 2022
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.
