Dictionary entry details
• NATURAL PROCESS (noun)
Meaning:
A process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Synonyms:
natural action; natural process; activity; action
Context examples:
the action of natural forces / volcanic activity
Hypernyms ("natural process" is a kind of...):
physical process; process (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "natural process"):
vitrification (the process of becoming vitreous)
precession of the equinoxes (a slow westward shift of the equinoxes along the plane of the ecliptic caused by precession of the Earth's axis of rotation)
phase change; phase transition; physical change; state change (a change from one state (solid or liquid or gas) to another without a change in chemical composition)
pair creation; pair formation; pair production (the transformation of a gamma-ray photon into an electron and a positron when the photon passes close to an atomic nucleus)
oxygenation (the process of providing or combining or treating with oxygen)
oscillation (the process of oscillating between states)
opacification (the process of becoming cloudy or opaque)
nuclear reaction ((physics) a process that alters the energy or structure or composition of atomic nuclei)
materialisation; materialization (the process of coming into being; becoming reality)
magnetic induction; magnetisation; magnetization (the process that makes a substance magnetic (temporarily or permanently))
leach; leaching (the process of leaching)
ionisation; ionization (the process of ionizing; the formation of ions by separating atoms or molecules or radicals or by adding or subtracting electrons from atoms by strong electric fields in a gas)
ion exchange (a process in which ions are exchanged between a solution and an insoluble (usually resinous) solid; widely used in industrial processing)
inactivation (the process of rendering inactive)
curing; hardening; set; solidification; solidifying (the process of becoming hard or solid by cooling or drying or crystallization)
release (a process that liberates or discharges something)
saltation ((geology) the leaping movement of sand or soil particles as they are transported in a fluid medium over an uneven surface)
scattering (the physical process in which particles are deflected haphazardly as a result of collisions)
transpiration (the passage of gases through fine tubes because of differences in pressure or temperature)
transduction (the process whereby a transducer accepts energy in one form and gives back related energy in a different form)
temperature change (a process whereby the degree of hotness of a body (or medium) changes)
synergism; synergy (the working together of two things (muscles or drugs for example) to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects)
natural selection; selection; survival; survival of the fittest (a natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment)
ecological succession; succession ((ecology) the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established)
stimulation ((physiology) the effect of a stimulus (on nerves or organs etc.))
rigidification; rigidifying; stiffening (the process of becoming stiff or rigid)
source ((technology) a process by which energy or a substance enters a system)
sorption (the process in which one substance takes up or holds another (by either absorption or adsorption))
softening (the process of becoming softer)
soak; soakage; soaking (the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid))
sink ((technology) a process that acts to absorb or remove energy or a substance from a system)
sericulture (raising silkworms in order to obtain raw silk)
geologic process; geological process ((geology) a natural process whereby geological features are modified)
fossilisation; fossilization (the process of fossilizing a plant or animal that existed in some earlier age; the process of being turned to stone)
clotting; coagulation; curdling (the process of forming semisolid lumps in a liquid)
convection ((meteorology) the vertical movement of heat or other properties by massive motion within the atmosphere)
condensation (the process of changing from a gaseous to a liquid or solid state)
concretion (the formation of stonelike objects within a body organ (e.g., the kidneys))
chromatography (a process used for separating mixtures by virtue of differences in absorbency)
chemical action; chemical change; chemical process ((chemistry) any process determined by the atomic and molecular composition and structure of the substances involved)
centrifugation (the process of separating substances by the use of a centrifuge)
capture (a process whereby a star or planet holds an object in its gravitational field)
capture (any process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle)
antiredeposition (the process of preventing redeposition)
aeration (the process of exposing to air (so as to purify))
adiabatic process ((thermodynamics) any process that occurs without gain or loss of heat)
acidification (the process of becoming acid or being converted into an acid)
absorption ((physics) the process in which incident radiated energy is retained without reflection or transmission on passing through a medium)
decay (the process of gradually becoming inferior)
demagnetisation; demagnetization (the process of removing magnetization)
desorption (changing from an adsorbed state on a surface to a gaseous or liquid state)
formation (natural process that causes something to form)
flow (any uninterrupted stream or discharge)
flocculation (the process of flocculating; forming woolly cloudlike aggregations)
filtration (the process whereby fluids pass through a filter or a filtering medium)
feedback (the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output)
extraction (the process of obtaining something from a mixture or compound by chemical or physical or mechanical means)
extinction (the reduction of the intensity of radiation as a consequence of absorption and radiation)
ecesis; establishment ((ecology) the process by which a plant or animal becomes established in a new habitat)
cataphoresis; dielectrolysis; electrophoresis; ionophoresis (the motion of charged particles in a colloid under the influence of an electric field; particles with a positive charge go to the cathode and negative to the anode)
effervescence (the process of bubbling as gas escapes)
drift (the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane))
distillation; distillment (the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors)
disintegration; dissolution (separation into component parts)
diffusion ((physics) the process of diffusing; the intermingling of molecules in gases and liquids as a result of random thermal agitation)
radiation (the spread of a group of organisms into new habitats)
