Meaning & use
metabolism
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountablebiology
The set of chemical reactions in living cells that release energy from food and build and repair the body.
Grammar: Usually a singular, uncountable idea; plural metabolisms refers to different organisms.
Patterns
- the metabolism of something
- someone's metabolism
Hormones from the thyroid help control the body's metabolism.
Bears slow their metabolism during hibernation.
nounsingularinformal
In everyday talk, the speed at which a person's body burns energy.
Grammar: Usually with a possessive and an adjective like fast or slow: a fast metabolism.
Patterns
- a fast metabolism
- a slow metabolism
My brother eats constantly because he has a fast metabolism.
Some people say their metabolism slows as they age.
Word forms
| plural | metabolisms |
|---|
Common combinations
- fast metabolism
- She has a fast metabolism and stays thin.
- slow metabolism
- A slow metabolism can make weight loss harder.
- boost your metabolism
- Exercise can boost your metabolism.
- basal metabolism
- Basal metabolism is the energy used at rest.
- affect metabolism
- Some drugs affect metabolism.
Synonyms and how they differ
- metabolic rate
- Is the more exact term for how fast the body uses energy, whereas metabolism covers the whole set of processes.
Word family
- metabolic adjective
- relating to metabolism
- metabolize verb
- to process a substance in the body
- metabolite noun
- a substance produced during metabolism
Commonly confused: metabolism or digestion?
metabolism vs digestion
Digestion is only the breaking down of food in the gut; metabolism includes what cells do with the nutrients afterward.
Practice
Which sentence uses metabolism correctly?
Choose one answer.
Metabolism is a noun for body chemistry or energy use. The others misuse it as a verb, a train feature or a product.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “metabolism”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.