{ ||Me*tab"o*la (?), ||Me*tab"o*le (?), } n. [NL., from Gr. &?; change;
&?; beyond + &?; to throw.] (Med.) A change or mutation; a change of
disease, symptoms, or treatment.
{ ||Me*tab"o*la (?), ||Met`a*bo"li*a (?), } n. pl. [NL. See 1st
Metabola.] (Zoöl.) A comprehensive group of insects, including those
that undegro a metamorphosis.
Met`a*bo"li*an (?), n. [See Metabola.] (Zoöl.) An insect which
undergoes a metamorphosis.
Met`a*bol"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?;. See Metabola.] 1. (Biol.) Of or
pertaining to metamorphosis; pertaining to, or involving, change.
2. (Physiol.) Of or pertaining to metabolism; as, metabolic activity;
metabolic force.
||Met`a*bol"i*sis (?), n. [NL.] Metabolism. [R.]
Me*tab"o*lism (?), n. (Physiol.) The act or process, by which living
tissues or cells take up and convert into their own proper substance
the nutritive material brought to them by the blood, or by which they
transform their cell protoplasm into simpler substances, which are
fitted either for excretion or for some special purpose, as in the
manufacture of the digestive ferments. Hence, metabolism may be either
constructive (anabolism), or destructive (katabolism).
Me*tab"o*lite (?), n. (Physiol Chem.) A product of metabolism; a
substance produced by metabolic action, as urea.
Me*tab"o*lize (?), v. t. & i. (Physiol.) To change by a metabolic
process. See Metabolism.
Met`a*bran"chi*al (?), a. [Meta- + branchial.] (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining
to the lobe of the carapace of crabs covering the posterior branchiæ.
Met`a*car"pal (?), a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the metacarpus. -- n.
A metacarpal bone.
Met`a*car"pus (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;; &?; beyond, between + &?; the
wrist.] (Anat.) That part of the skeleton of the hand or forefoot
between the carpus and phalanges. In man it consists of five bones. See
Illust. of Artiodactyla.
{ Met`a*cen"ter (?) or -tre }, n. [Pref. meta- + center.]
(Hydrostatics) The point of intersection of a vertical line through the
center of gravity of the fluid displaced by a floating body which is
tipped through a small angle from its position of equilibrium, and the
inclined line which was vertical through the center of gravity of the
body when in equilibrium.
When the metacenter is above the center of gravity, the position of the
body is stable; when below it, unstable.
Me*tac"e*tone (?), n. [Pref. met- + acetone.] (Chem.) A colorless
liquid of an agreeable odor, C6H10O, obtained by distilling a mixture
of sugar and lime; -- so called because formerly regarded as a
polymeric modification of acetone.
Met`a*chlo"ral (?), n. [Pref. meta- + chloral.] (Chem.) A white,
amorphous, insoluble substance regarded as a polymeric variety of
chloral.
Me*tach"ro*nism (?), n. [Gr. &?;, &?;, after the time, happening
afterward; &?; beyond + &?; time: cf. F. métachronisme.] An error
committed in chronology by placing an event after its real time.
||Met`a*chro"sis (?), n. [NL., from Gr. &?; beyond + &?; a coloring.]
||(Biol.) The power of changing color at will by the expansion of
||special pigment cells, under nerve influence, as seen in many
||reptiles, fishes, etc. Cope.
Met`a*cin"na*bar*ite (?), n. [Pref. meta- + cinnabar.] (Min.) Sulphide
of mercury in isometric form and black in color.
Met"a*cism (?), n. [L. metacismus, Gr. &?; fondness for the letter
&?;.] A defect in pronouncing the letter m, or a too frequent use of
it.
Met`a*cro"le*in (?), n. [Pref. met- + acrolein.] (Chem.) A polymeric
modification of acrolein obtained by heating it with caustic potash. It
is a crystalline substance having an aromatic odor.
||Met`a*cro"mi*on (?), n. [NL.] (Anat.) A process projecting backward
||and downward from the acromion of the scapula of some mammals.
Met`a*dis*coid"al (?), a. [Meta- + discoidal.] (Anat.) Discoidal by
derivation; -- applied especially to the placenta of man and apes,
because it is supposed to have been derived from a diffused placenta.
Met`a*gas"tric (?), a. [Pref. meta- + gastric.] (Zoöl.) Of or
pertaining to the two posterior gastric lobes of the carapace of crabs.
Met"age (?; 48), n. [From Mete, v.] 1. Measurement, especially of coal.
De Foe.