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respiration - 7 dictionary results

res⋅pi⋅ra⋅tion

  [res-puh-rey-shuhn]
Use respiration in a Sentence
–noun
1. the act of respiring; inhalation and exhalation of air; breathing.
2. Biology.
a. the sum total of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which oxygen is conveyed to tissues and cells, and the oxidation products, carbon dioxide and water, are given off.
b. an analogous chemical process, as in muscle cells or in anaerobic bacteria, occurring in the absence of oxygen.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME respiracioun < L respīrātiōn- (s. of respīrātiō) a breathing out, equiv. to respīrāt(us) (ptp. of respīrāre to respire ) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms:
res⋅pi⋅ra⋅tion⋅al, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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res·pi·ra·tion   (rěs'pə-rā'shən)   
n.  
    1. The act or process of inhaling and exhaling; breathing. Also called ventilation.
    2. The act or process by which an organism without lungs, such as a fish or plant, exchanges gases with its environment.
    3. The oxidative process occurring within living cells by which the chemical energy of organic molecules is released in a series of metabolic steps involving the consumption of oxygen and the liberation of carbon dioxide and water.
    4. Any of various analogous metabolic processes by which certain organisms, such as fungi and anaerobic bacteria, obtain energy from organic molecules.
    1. The oxidative process occurring within living cells by which the chemical energy of organic molecules is released in a series of metabolic steps involving the consumption of oxygen and the liberation of carbon dioxide and water.
    2. Any of various analogous metabolic processes by which certain organisms, such as fungi and anaerobic bacteria, obtain energy from organic molecules.
res'pi·ra'tion·al adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Respiration

Res`pi*ra"tion\ (r?s`p?*r?"sh?n), n. [L. respiratio: cf. F. respiration. See Respire.]

1. The act of respiring or breathing again, or catching one's breath.

2. Relief from toil or suffering: rest. [Obs.]

Till the day Appear of respiration to the just And vengeance to the wicked. --Milton.

3. Interval; intermission. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall.

4. (Physiol.) The act of resping or breathing; the act of taking in and giving out air; the aggregate of those processes bu which oxygen is introduced into the system, and carbon dioxide, or carbonic acid, removed.

Note: Respiration in the higher animals is divided into: (a) Internal respiration, or the interchange of oxygen and carbonic acid between the cells of the body and the bathing them, which in one sense is a process of nutrition. (b) External respiration, or the gaseous interchange taking place in the special respiratory organs, the lungs. This constitutes respiration proper. --Gamgee. In the respiration of plants oxygen is likewise absorbed and carbonic acid exhaled, but in the light this process is obscured by another process which goes on with more vigor, in which the plant inhales and absorbs carbonic acid and exhales free oxygen.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : respiration
Spanish: respiración,
German: das Atmen,
Japanese: 呼吸
More Translations »

respiration

The conversion of oxygen by living things into the energy by which they continue life. Respiration is part of metabolism.

Note: Carbon dioxide is a waste product of respiration.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Main Entry: res·pi·ra·tion
Pronunciation: "res-p&-'rA-sh&n
Function: noun
1 a : the placing of air or dissolved gases inintimate contact with the circulating medium (as blood) of a multicellular organism (as by breathing) b : a single complete act of breathing <30 respirations perminute>
2 : the physical and chemical processes by which an organism supplies its cells and tissues with the oxygen needed for metabolism and relieves them of the carbon dioxideformed in energy-producing reactions
3 : any of various energy-yielding oxidative reactions in living matter that typically involve transfer of oxygen and production of carbondioxide and water as end products respiration>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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respiration res·pi·ra·tion (rěs'pə-rā'shən)
n.
Abbr. R

  1. The act or process of inhaling and exhaling; breathing. Also called ventilation.
  2. The act or process by which an organism without lungs, such as a fish or plant, exchanges gases with its environment.
  3. The oxidative process occurring within living cells by which the chemical energy of organic molecules is released in a series of metabolic steps involving the consumption of oxygen and the liberation of carbon dioxide and water.
  4. Any of various analogous metabolic processes by which organisms, such as fungi, obtain energy from organic molecules.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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respiration   (rěs'pə-rā'shən)  Pronunciation Key 


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  1. The process by which organisms exchange gases, especially oxygen and carbon dioxide, with the environment. In air-breathing vertebrates, respiration takes place in the lungs. In fish and many invertebrates, respiration takes place through the gills. Respiration in green plants occurs during photosynthesis.
  2. See cellular respiration.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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