Definition of "oxidation-reduction" [oxidation-reduction]

• A chemical reaction in which an atom or ion loses electrons to another atom or ion. (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.

• "He was a Hungarian biochemist who had worked in a number of countries and had a special interest in oxidation-reduction mechanisms in the body."
• "Chance had reported that the surface fluorescence of other organs reflected the oxidation-reduction state of those tissues."
• "They get their energy by oxidizing ferrous iron into ferric-but that's a change that can happen spontaneously if the oxidation-reduction potential and the pH of the solution are right, and both of those conditions can be affected by ordinary decay bacteria."