Dictionary entry details
• BODILY FUNCTION (noun)
Meaning:
An organic process that takes place in the body
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Synonyms:
bodily function; bodily process; body process; activity
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"):
control ((physiology) regulation or maintenance of a function or action or reflex etc)
hypostasis (the accumulation of blood in an organ)
lachrymation; lacrimation; tearing; watering (shedding tears)
lactation (the production and secretion of milk by the mammary glands)
opsonisation; opsonization (process whereby opsonins make an invading microorganism more susceptible to phagocytosis)
overactivity (excessive activity)
peristalsis; vermiculation (the process of wavelike muscle contractions of the alimentary tract that moves food along)
diaphoresis; hidrosis; perspiration; sudation; sweating (the process of the sweat glands of the skin secreting a salty fluid)
phagocytosis (process in which phagocytes engulf and digest microorganisms and cellular debris; an important defense against infection)
pinocytosis (process by which certain cells can engulf and incorporate droplets of fluid)
placentation (the formation of the placenta in the uterus)
psilosis (falling out of hair)
tanning (process in which skin pigmentation darkens as a result of exposure to ultraviolet light)
healing (the natural process by which the body repairs itself)
festering; maturation; suppuration ((medicine) the formation of morbific matter in an abscess or a vesicle and the discharge of pus)
expectoration (the process of coughing up and spitting 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)
respiration (a single complete act of breathing in and out)
breath (the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing)
consumption; ingestion; intake; uptake (the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating))
sex; sex activity; sexual activity; sexual practice (activities associated with sexual intercourse)
insemination (the introduction of semen into the genital tract of a female)
sleeping (the suspension of consciousness and decrease in metabolic rate)
reaction; response (a bodily process occurring due to the effect of some foregoing stimulus or agent)
crying; tears; weeping (the process of shedding tears (usually accompanied by sobs or other inarticulate sounds))
ablactation (the cessation of lactation)
anastalsis (muscular action of the alimentary tract in a direction opposite to peristalsis)
discharge; emission; expelling (any of several bodily processes by which substances go out of the body)
transpiration (the process of giving off or exhaling water vapor through the skin or mucous membranes)
