BODILY FUNCTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does bodily function mean? 

• BODILY FUNCTION (noun)
  The noun BODILY FUNCTION has 1 sense:

1. an organic process that takes place in the body

  Familiarity information: BODILY FUNCTION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BODILY FUNCTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An organic process that takes place in the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

activity; bodily function; bodily process; body process

Context example:

respiratory activity

Hypernyms ("bodily function" is a kind of...):

biological process; organic process (a process occurring in living organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bodily function"):

festering; maturation; suppuration ((medicine) the formation of morbific matter in an abscess or a vesicle and the discharge of pus)

transpiration (the process of giving off or exhaling water vapor through the skin or mucous membranes)

tanning (process in which skin pigmentation darkens as a result of exposure to ultraviolet light)

psilosis (falling out of hair)

placentation (the formation of the placenta in the uterus)

pinocytosis (process by which certain cells can engulf and incorporate droplets of fluid)

phagocytosis (process in which phagocytes engulf and digest microorganisms and cellular debris; an important defense against infection)

diaphoresis; hidrosis; perspiration; sudation; sweating (the process of the sweat glands of the skin secreting a salty fluid)

peristalsis; vermiculation (the process of wavelike muscle contractions of the alimentary tract that moves food along)

overactivity (excessive activity)

opsonisation; opsonization (process whereby opsonins make an invading microorganism more susceptible to phagocytosis)

lactation (the production and secretion of milk by the mammary glands)

lachrymation; lacrimation; tearing; watering (shedding tears)

hypostasis (the accumulation of blood in an organ)

healing (the natural process by which the body repairs itself)

control ((physiology) regulation or maintenance of a function or action or reflex etc)

expectoration (the process of coughing up and spitting out)

discharge; emission; expelling (any of several bodily processes by which substances go out of the body)

anastalsis (muscular action of the alimentary tract in a direction opposite to peristalsis)

ablactation (the cessation of lactation)

crying; tears; weeping (the process of shedding tears (usually accompanied by sobs or other inarticulate sounds))

reaction; response (a bodily process occurring due to the effect of some antecedent stimulus or agent)

sleeping (the suspension of consciousness and decrease in metabolic rate)

insemination (the introduction of semen into the genital tract of a female)

sex; sex activity; sexual activity; sexual practice (activities associated with sexual intercourse)

consumption; ingestion; intake; uptake (the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating))

breath (the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing)

respiration (a single complete act of breathing in and out)

breathing; external respiration; respiration; ventilation (the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation; the process of taking in oxygen from inhaled air and releasing carbon dioxide by exhalation)