LIFE CYCLE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does life cycle mean? 

• LIFE CYCLE (noun)
  The noun LIFE CYCLE has 2 senses:

1. a series of stages through which an organism passes between recurrences of a primary stage

2. the course of developmental changes in an organism from fertilized zygote to maturity when another zygote can be produced

  Familiarity information: LIFE CYCLE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LIFE CYCLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A series of stages through which an organism passes between recurrences of a primary stage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("life cycle" is a kind of...):

organic phenomenon ((biology) a natural phenomenon involving living plants and animals)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The course of developmental changes in an organism from fertilized zygote to maturity when another zygote can be produced

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("life cycle" is a kind of...):

development; growing; growth; maturation; ontogenesis; ontogeny ((biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level)

 Context examples 

The ability to synchronize behavioral, morphological and other transitions with the seasons is integral to the life cycle of most insects.

(Secrets to climate change adaptation uncovered in the European corn borer moth, National Science Foundation)

"It can give a very detailed account of how sea ice affects the life cycle of emperor penguins, their reproduction, and their mortality."

(Unless warming is slowed, emperor penguins will march toward extinction, National Science Foundation)

An Antimicrobial Effect involves interference with, or restraint of, the activities of biologic molecules and complexes, or cellular components involved in the life cycle of a microorganism, resulting in suppression of microbial growth.

(Antimicrobial Effect, NCI Thesaurus)

A phase of the virus life cycle during which the virus replicates within the host cell, releasing a new generation of viruses when the infected cell lyses.

(Lytic Phase, NCI Thesaurus)

A virus which, as part of its life cycle, causes its host cells plasma membrane to rupture (to lyse).

(Lytic Virus, NCI Thesaurus)

But new observations provide insights into explosions at the other end of the stellar life cycle, star birth.

(Dramatic Stellar Fireworks of Star Birth, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Researchers indicated that the compound MMV390048 could block all life cycle stages of the malaria parasite.

(Antimalarial candidate holds promise as a single dose, SciDev.Net)

This unprecedented observation could shed light on the life cycle of galaxies.

(ALMA and MUSE Detect Galactic Fountain, ESO)

Some researchers favor the idea that the star is evolved — past the peak of its life cycle and on the decline.

(NASA Team Probes Peculiar Age-Defying Star, NASA)

Life cycles of these viruses are characterized by ZOONOSES, with birds and lower mammals serving as intermediate hosts.

(Epidemic Encephalitis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)