internal respiration

Meaning

1. 1noununcountablebiology

   The swapping of gases between the blood in tiny vessels and the cells of body tissues, where oxygen goes in and carbon dioxide comes out.

   Grammar: Used in biology lessons, with no plural.

   Patterns

   • internal respiration in something

   During internal respiration, oxygen leaves the capillaries and enters the muscle cells.

   Internal respiration happens in tissues all over the body, not in the lungs.

   The textbook compares internal respiration with external respiration.

Common combinations

internal respiration occurs

Internal respiration occurs in every living tissue.

external and internal respiration

The quiz asks you to tell external and internal respiration apart.

internal respiration in the tissues

Internal respiration in the tissues releases carbon dioxide into the blood.

stage of internal respiration

The stage of internal respiration comes after blood leaves the lungs.

drive internal respiration

A concentration difference drives internal respiration.

Synonyms and how they differ

tissue respiration

Tissue respiration is a near synonym that stresses where the gas exchange happens.

cellular respiration

Cellular respiration is related but means the chemical process inside cells that releases energy from food, not the gas swap itself.

Opposites

Word family

respiration noun

the process of breathing and using oxygen

respire verb

to breathe

respiratory adjective

relating to breathing

respirator noun

a device that helps someone breathe

Commonly confused: internal respiration or external respiration?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “internal respiration”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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