This week’s theme
Words for diseases, used metaphorically

This week’s words
scurvy
apoplectic
jaundiced
metastasize
scabrous

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(muh-TAS-tuh-syz)

MEANING:

verb intr.
1. To spread or escalate in an undesirable manner.
2. (Of a cancer) To spread to other parts of the body.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin metastasis (transition), from Greek methistanai (to change), from meta- (beyond) + histanai (to set). Earliest documented use: 1907.

USAGE:

“A disruption here could metastasize quickly and lead to a general uprising.”
Myron Curtis; The Seventh Reflection; iUniverse; 2013.

See more usage examples of metastasize in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: