katabolism definitions

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: breakdown in living organisms of more complex substances into simpler ones together with release of energy [syn: catabolism, katabolism, dissimilation, destructive metabolism] [ant: anabolism, constructive metabolism]

Oxford Reference Dictionary

var. of CATABOLISM.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Katabolism Ka*tab"o*lism, n. [Gr. ? down + ? to throw.] (Physiol.) Destructive or downward metabolism; regressive metamorphism; -- opposed to anabolism. See Disassimilation.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Metabolism Me*tab"o*lism, n. (Physiol.) The act or process, by which living tissues or cells take up and convert into their own proper substance the nutritive material brought to them by the blood, or by which they transform their cell protoplasm into simpler substances, which are fitted either for excretion or for some special purpose, as in the manufacture of the digestive ferments. Hence, metabolism may be either constructive (anabolism), or destructive (katabolism).