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The Collaborative International Dictionary
catabolic

catabolic \catabolic\ adj. [Formerly spelled katabolic.]

  1. Of or pertaining to catabolism; as, catabolic processes, which give rise to substances (katastates) of decreasing complexity and increasing stability.

  2. characterized by destructive metabolism; contrasted with anabolic.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
catabolic

1876; see catabolism + -ic.

Wiktionary
catabolic

a. Of, or relating to catabolism.

WordNet
catabolic
  1. adj. relating to or characterized by catabolism [syn: katabolic]

  2. characterized by destructive metabolism [syn: katabolic] [ant: anabolic]

Usage examples of "catabolic".

The gap between these two, a period of nearly five hundred years, I spent in a state of suspended animation, free from the ravages of catabolic processes, and without any apparent effect on my physical or mental faculties.

The gap between these two, a period of nearly five hundred years, I spent in a state of suspended animation, free from the ravages of catabolic processes, and without any apparent effect on my physical or mental faculties.

At first he zylphed only the physiological complexities of his own body, the flow of blood through minuscule capillaries, the slow catabolic attrition of dying cells, their anabolic replacement He advanced the setting another notch, until he sensed Madame Carnot's presence in the same field.