anabolic, a. Biol.
(ænəˈbɒlɪk)
[f. Gr. ἀναβολή (lit. a throwing up), ascent, etc. + -ic.]
Pertaining to, involving, or exhibiting anabolism; constructively metabolic: opp. to catabolic.
| 1876 [see catabolic a.]. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 13/2 An upward series of changes (anabolic changes). 1889 Geddes & Thompson Evol. Sex ii. 26 The males live at a loss, are more katabolic... The females..live at a profit, are more anabolic—constructive processes predominating in their life, whence indeed the capacity of bearing offspring. a 1901 F. W. H. Myers Hum. Pers. (1903) II. 514 The katabolic as well as the anabolic forces, the output as well as the intake of the bodily frame, are amenable..to subliminal control. 1962 Lancet 12 May 986/2 The second, or anabolic, phase in the newborn child also resembles the anabolic state after injury. |