| word | metamorphosis |
|---|---|
| definition | (1) A physical change, especially one supernaturally caused. (2) A developmental change in an animal that occurs after birth or hatching. |
| eg_sentence | Day by day the class watched the gradual metamorphosis of the tadpoles into frogs. |
| explanation | Many ancient myths end in a metamorphosis. As Apollo is chasing the nymph Daphne, she calls on her river-god father for help and he turns her into a laurel tree to save her. Out of anger and jealousy, the goddess Athena turns the marvelous weaver Arachne into a spider that will spin only beautiful webs. But natural substances may also metamorphose, or undergo metamorphosis. Heat and pressure over thousands of years may eventually turn tiny organisms into petroleum, and coal into diamonds. And the most beloved of natural metamorphoses (notice how this plural is formed) is probably the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies |
| IPA | ˌmɛtəˈmɔrfəsəs |
Tags: mwvb::unit:15, mwvb::unit:15:word, mwvb::word, mwvb::word-cloze, mwvb::word-reverse, obsidian_to_anki
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Morphology study species closely related structure form plants
Previous card: Anthropomorphic human animal things sense cup gods form
Up to card list: Merriam-Webster Vocabulary Builder LITE (English)