n 1 a  :  a natural progressively continuing operation or development marked by a series of gradual changes that succeed one another in a relatively fixed way and lead toward a particular result or end <the of growth>  <the of digestion>   b  :  a natural continuing activity or function <such life es as breathing and the circulation of the blood>   2  :  a part of the mass of an organism or organic structure that projects outward from the main mass <a bone >  <a parasite that puts forth es resembling tentacles>  .
 
    
 
Similar sounding terms:  pa·re·sis  pe·ro·sis  po·ro·sis  py·ro·sis 
 
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