Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "metastasize" []

  • To be transmitted or transferred by metastasis. (verb-intransitive)
  • To be changed or transformed, especially dangerously: "a need for love that would metastasize into an insatiable craving for attention” ( Michiko Kakutani). (verb-intransitive)
  • To spread, especially destructively: "[disinformation] ... that even now continues to metastasize ... to such a degree that myth threatens to overthrow history” ( Gore Vidal). (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "metastasize" in a sentence
  • "Moving on to Europe, Huntsman used the word "metastasize" to describe the euro crisis."
  • "Then Rick Perry is asked a similar question – and he doesn't use the word "metastasize"."
  • "You take out the main operational leader and then the cells kind of metastasize and become harder targets because they're dispersed."