Definition of "thermogenesis" [thermogenesis]

• Generation or production of heat, especially by physiological processes. (noun)

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.

• "When you eat spicy foods, it leads to a process called "thermogenesis" - in other words, heat generation."
• "Typically, fat that isn’t burned to produce body heat is stored on our hips, thighs, stomach, and so on the body-heat process is called thermogenesis."
• "Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt, a professor of human biology at the Maastricht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, estimates that boosting the body's heat-generating ability, a process known as thermogenesis, could help people burn as much as 5% to 10% additional calories."