biologicaladj.n.
/ˌbʌɪəˈlɒdʒᵻkl/, U.S. /ˌbaɪəˈlɑdʒək(ə)l/ A. adj.
1. Of or relating to biology or the phenomena of living organisms.In quot. 1874: relating to ‘electro-biology’ or mesmerism.
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the world > life > biology > study > [adjective] > biology
biological1822
biologic1853
biomorphic1882
the world > the supernatural > the paranormal > [adjective] > relating to mesmerism
magnetical1794
magnetic1800
mesmerian1820
mesmeric1829
mesmerical1852
statuvolic1871
biological1874
post-hypnotic1887
1822 Eclectic Rev. 17 492 The epitaph..would seem to be, after all, no joke, but a most accurate account of the biological catastrophe [sc. death and decay of the body].
1859 G. Wilson & A. Geikie Mem. E. Forbes ii. 43 Natural History..the biological half of natural science.
1874 W. B. Carpenter Princ. Mental Physiol. ii. xiv. 555 The psychical phenomena manifested during the persistence of the ‘Biological’ state.
1877 C. W. Thomson Voy. ‘Challenger’ I. i. 5 The physical and biological conditions of the sea-bottom.
1926 W. Lewis Art of being Ruled xiii. iii. 420 That will be the moment of the renascence of our race, or will be the signal for a new biological transformation.
1964 D. F. Downing in M. Gordon Psychopharmacol. Agents I. xiii. 572 Lysergic acid derivatives with biological activity are..known to occur both in fungi and higher plants.
1974 J. B. Finean et al. Membranes & Cellular Functions iv. 64 The full biological potency of insulin appears only after proteolytic removal of a large fragment (the C-peptide) from the centre of the polypeptide chain.
1987 R. Eisler Chalice & Blade (1988) v. 60 Biological evolution entails what scientists call speciation: the emergence of a wide variety of progressively more complex forms of life.
2000 H. Hammond Lesbian Art in Amer. i. 99 Most of us believe that to be queer is not simply a biological condition but a combination of biology, socially conditioned factors, and conscious choice.
2.
a. Involving or consisting of living organisms; derived from living organisms.
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the world > life > biology > organism > [adjective]
organical1563
organized1598
organizate1647
organic1670
biological1896
1896 Geogr. Jrnl. 7 318 The terrestrial, marine, atmospheric, and biological agents of change [to coasts].
1932 G. D. Fuller & H. S. Conard tr. J. Braun-Blanquet Plant Sociol. viii. 242 Bacteria..are probably the most important of all biological weathering factors.
1949 A. Huxley Let. 21 Oct. (1969) 605 Meanwhile, of course, there may be a large-scale biological and atomic war.
1966 J. Sankey Chalkland Ecol. i. 5 It is possible that the chalk was either mostly chemically precipitated or was formed from material of biological origin.
1991 Time 11 Feb. 29/1 Nerve agents that cause death in minutes, or..biological killers like anthrax and botulism.
2003 New Scientist 26 July 36/1 Fabric objects found near metal parts of the ship..show signs of biological attack.
b. Of a detergent or other cleaning product: containing enzymes to assist the process of cleaning.
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1969 Times 25 July 24/2 Biological detergent warning... Major sums have been invested by the big detergent groups..in producing biological washing powders.
1984 Which? Aug. 384/2 For front-loading automatics, eczema sufferers may find ordinary automatic washing powders less of a problem than biological ones.
1993 S. Buys & V. Oakley Conservation & Restoration of Ceramics vii. 94/1 Care must also be taken when using peroxide treatment in association with other cleaning treatments such as soaking in biological detergents.
2006 D. Walker Food, Blood & Bones v. 23 To avoid protease enzymes becoming denatured, biological washing powders need to be effective at low temperatures.
3. Of person's sex or gender: designated or assigned at birth.Sometimes contrasted with the sex or gender with which that person later identifies. Cf. birth n.1 Compounds 3, assigned adj. Additions.
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1920 Freeman 8 Sept. 621/2 She maintains that the male and female characteristics of the psyche are arbitrarily..determined by the biological gender of the individual.
1970 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 3 Feb. 1/2 Justice Roger Ormrod declared that 34-year-old April Ashley, once a merchant seaman, ‘is not a woman for the purposes of marriage, but is a biological male and has been so since birth’.
2005 I. M. Young in P. Essed et al. Compan. Gender Stud. (2009) vii. 102 By destabilizing categories both of biological sex and gender identity, recent deconstructive approaches to feminist and queer theorizing have opened greater possibilities for thinking a plurality of intersecting identities.
4. Of an individual or individuals: related by blood, or genetically; (of a parent) that procreated the child in question; (of a child) that is the offspring of the parent in question. Cf. natural adj. 15b, 15c.
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society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > [adjective] > by blood-relationship
fleshlyc900
bloodyc1390
carnal1490
akinc1515
natural?1515
native1567
consanguine1613
consanguineousa1616
consanguineal1795
consanguinean1827
biological1926
1926 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 11 May 6/4 Thus does even nature recognize the fact that the biological mother of the child may not be best for it.
1939 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 45 65 Man..is a double inheritor. From his biological parents he receives his original nature... From society, on the other hand, he acquires..his social nature.
1977 G. Clark World Prehist. (ed. 3) v. 245 The prehistoric iron-using communities..lived in open village settlements comprising from twenty to thirty biological families.
1999 Catholic Herald 30 July 3/1 Test-tube children will be given the same rights to trace biological parents as those conceived naturally and given up for adoption.
2002 Bliss June 67/2 Chris breaks up with his girlf..'cause he thinks she's his biological sister.
B. n.
1. A substance of biological origin used as a drug, vaccine, pesticide, etc. Frequently in plural. Cf. chemical n. 1a.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > biological product > [noun]
biological1904
biologic1909
1904 Canad. Jrnl. Med. & Surg. Jan. (end matter) p. lviii. (advt.) It is the intention of the National Vaccine and Antitoxin Establishment to add as rapidly as possible to their line of biologicals.
1921 Lancet 5 Mar. 497/2 A report..to consider the effective control of therapeutic substances which cannot be tested by direct chemical means. On the analogy of ‘chemicals’ we propose, for want of a better term, to call these substances ‘biologicals’.
1988 Biotechnol. Adv. 6 207 A wide spectrum of biologicals are produced from animal cells in culture. Among these biologicals are viral vaccines.., viral bioinsecticides, [etc.].
2006 K. J. Donham & A. Thelin Agric. Med. 342/1 There are several categories of biologicals, and it is important to understand their differences regarding potential health hazards.
2. = biological weapon n. at Compounds.
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1950 World Politics 2 272 No thorough analyst could ignore chemicals and biologicals in a treatment bearing the title Strategic Air Power.
1969 Punch 8 Jan. 71/1 Using gas and biologicals..isn't the kind of warfare they learned about as cadets at West Point.
2001 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Dec. 202/2 True explosives and nukes are the weapons of mass destruction. Biologicals are something else.
Compounds
biological anthropologist n. = physical anthropologist n. at physical anthropology n. Derivatives.
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the world > people > science of mankind > [noun] > anthropology > physical > person
physical anthropologist1874
biological anthropologist1878
1878 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 7 541 ‘Of man considered in his ensemble, and in his relation with animals’..is a question solely for the consideration of the biological anthropologist.
1946 Amer. Anthropologist 48 298 The biological anthropologists were the first to have a separate journal for their own field.
2001 Smithsonian May 100/1 She decided to have another try at being a biological anthropologist.
biological anthropology n. = physical anthropology n.
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the world > people > science of mankind > [noun] > anthropology > physical
anthropology1593
physical anthropology1841
anthroposomatology1847
biological anthropology1877
bioanthropology1954
1877 Amer. Naturalist 11 497 Professor Huxley..defined the boundaries of biology... The restriction of the term ‘biological anthropology’ to the application of Professor Huxley's definition to mankind will suit the meaning given to this term by M. Broca.
1946 Social Forces 28 96/1 Two chapters are devoted to physical or biological anthropology.
2003 Nation (N.Y.) 7 Apr. 29/2 My own field, biological anthropology, cut its eyeteeth providing scientific validity for the oppression of non-Nordics.
biological assay n. measurement of the concentration, potency, or other properties of a substance by its qualitative or quantitative effect on living cells or organisms.
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the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > [noun] > specific tests or testing > of strength of a substance on an organism
bioassay1912
biological assay1922
biological assay1926
immunoassay1959
1926 Lancet Nov. 982/1 Dr. J. H. Burn, director of the society's pharmacological laboratories, will read a paper on Some Methods of Biological Assay.
1953 S. K. Kon & J. W. G. Porter in G. H. Bourne & G. W. Kidder Biochem. & Physiol. of Nutrition ix. 323 Thiamine-deficient rats..have a considerably slowed heart beat (bradycardia), which has been used as the basis of a biological assay of the vitamin.
1999 New Scientist 23 Jan. 62 (advt.) You will develop and carry out biological assays for the discovery of novel insecticidal and nematicidal agents.
biological chemistry n. the study of chemical processes relevant to biology, or of biological processes at the biochemical or molecular level; biochemistry and molecular biology.
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the world > life > biology > study > [noun] > biochemistry
organic chemistry1827
physiological chemistry1845
biochemistry1848
biological chemistry1865
biochem1968
1865 H. MacCormac Consumption (ed. 2) 39 It is now some two hundred years since Harvey conversing with Greaves, the traveller, though all unaware of biological chemistry, sagaciously remarked that he did not see how a number of persons could converse whole hours in the central chamber of the great Pyramid unless there were some interior tunnel ventilation.
1923 Science Sept. 240/1 The [IUPAC] Committee for the Reform of the Nomenclature of Biological Chemistry adopted the following resolutions.
1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 589/2 The terms ‘biochemistry’, ‘biological chemistry’ and ‘physiological chemistry’ are often used interchangeably.
1998 New Scientist 21 Feb. 90/1 (advt.) The project..is particularly suitable for a graduate in chemistry, biochemistry, biological chemistry or polymer science, wishing to study a biological problem with clinical relevance.
biological control the control of a pest by the introduction of a natural enemy or predator (cf. biopesticide n. at bio- comb. form 2c).
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the world > life > biology > balance of nature > population > [noun] > control of
biological control1920
biocontrol1955
1920 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 11 July o 11/5 Its work in the past in the biological control of destructive insects, or the use of their natural enemies, has met with the greatest success.
1930 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Dec. 1078/3 The saving of the copra industry is as complete an example of what is now called ‘biological control’, the subduing of a living pest by the introduction of a living enemy of the pest, as the saving of the citrus industry of California by the introduction of a lady-beetle from Australia.
1971 P. C. C. Garnham Progress in Parasitol. vii. 124 Desultory attention has been paid to biological control of mosquitoes, which started many years ago with the use of larvivorous fish.
2002 Horticulture Nov. 16/2 The parasitic wasp Encarsia formosa can be..released in a greenhouse to provide biological control.
biological determinism n. [originally after French déterminisme biologique (1897 in the title of the work by F. Le Dantec referred to in quot. 1897)] the attribution of sole or excessive importance to biological factors in the determination of intelligence, behaviour, development, etc.; cf. genetic determinism n. at genetic adj. Compounds 2c.
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1897 Mind 6 427 This is the sequel to the author's Thèorie de la Vie, which dealt with ‘biological determinism’.
1939 Social Forces 18 33/2 Although strict biological determinism is no longer regarded seriously, it has fastened upon sociology an incubus of biological basis which dies hard.
1994 S. Pinker Lang. Instinct xiii. 406 The alternative, sometimes called ‘biological determinism’, is said to assign people to fixed slots in the socio-political-economic hierarchy, and to be the cause of many of the horrors of recent centuries.
2005 M. Lewycka Short Hist. Tractors in Ukrainian i. 5 ‘You have to understand that in some respects the man is governed by different impulses to the woman.’ ‘Pappa, please, spare me the biological determinism.’
biological diversity n. Ecology = biodiversity n.In quot. 1880 in a more general sense.
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the world > life > biology > balance of nature > [noun] > biodiversity
biological diversity1916
species richness1972
biodiversity1985
1880 R. Meldola tr. A. Weismann Stud. Theory of Descent i. vi. 113 The different external appearance of species as well as their physiological and biological diversity [is] thus explained.]
1916 Sci. Monthly July 49 The bare statement that the region contains a flora rich in genera and species..is entirely inadequate as a description of its real biological diversity.
1958 Times 1 Aug. 9/7 Each valley shows the extraordinary biological diversity so characteristic of the Amazon.
2006 Science 6 Oct. 102/1 The most striking large-scale pattern in biological diversity is the dramatic increase in the number of species and higher taxa from the poles to the tropics.
biological engineering n. (in early use) modification of the (esp. urban) human environment to improve public health; (in later use) = bioengineering n.
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society > occupation and work > industry > engineering > [noun] > branches of
waterwork?a1560
civil engineeringc1770
water engineering1787
millwrighting1821
engineering science1826
hydraulic engineering1835
river engineering1842
structural engineering1859
industrial engineering1860
chemical engineering1861
sanitary engineering1868
biological engineering1898
control engineering1914
radio engineering1915
environmental engineering1946
systems engineering1946
bioengineering1950
value engineering1959
biomedical engineering1961
geoengineering1962
macro-engineering1964
microengineering1964
terotechnology1970
hydroengineering1971
civil1975
mechatronics1976
knowledge engineering1977
1898 Perkins Inst. & Mass. School for Blind Ann. Rep. 48 This [sc. a system of physical training] is truly..a work of biological engineering. It is based on purely physiological principles, and keeps pace with every pedagogical and neurologic discovery.
1935 Science 26 July (Sci. News Suppl.) 11/2 Their productive ‘machines’ are living cows and pigs, cornstalks and wheat plants. These offer problems in biological engineering that differ from those which chemical engineering must solve..only in being much more difficult and complicated.
1994 D. Rushkoff Cyberia i. iv. 44 Most realistic visions of wireheading involved as-yet uninvented biological engineering techniques [which]..would provide a direct, physical interface between a human nervous system..and computer hardware.
2006 A. Steffen et al. Worldchanging (2008) 113/1 Biological engineering is not ordinary biotechnology or genetic engineering. It is the application of engineering principles to the construction of novel genetic structures.
biological hole n. a cavity in a nuclear reactor designed to permit the placing of living organisms near the core in order to test the biological effects of radiation.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > measurement of ionizing radiation > [noun] > test cavity in reactor
biological hole1957
1957 Gloss. Terms Nucl. Sci. (A.S.A.) 19/2 Biological hole.
1997 J. M. Holl Argonne National Lab. iv. 117 Two 8-by-12-inch biological holes in a low-flux area accommodated experiments to measure the effect of neutron and gamma radiation on small animals.
biological imperative n. an instinct or behaviour which is essential for the survival of an individual or species; esp. the urge to procreate.
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1903 L. F. Ward Pure Sociol. ii. xiv. 358 The..universal sense of the advantage of crossing strains..[and] the charm of sexual novelty, both of which motives are equally products of the biological imperative.
1925 R. Mukerjee Borderlands Econ. xvi. 247 Work is a biological imperative: it is work which..ensures mutual evolution among organisms.
1981 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Aug. 941/2 The basic biological imperatives of feeding, fighting, fleeing, and sexual intercourse.
2018 Toronto Star (Nexis) 6 Feb. e1 The biological imperative can't always be denied, especially for women who are constantly being reminded of their fertility.
biological invader n. (a) a pest or pathogen; (b) Ecology an organism or species that comes to populate an ecosystem to which it is not native, usually to the detriment of those originally inhabiting the area.
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1939 P. Knight Probl. of Insect Study 55 Until all the insects of the earth become cosmopolitan nations will have to pay for protection from biological invaders.
1962 Public Health Rep. (U.S. Public Health Service) 77 966/1 The bronchial tree fights chemical, physical, and biological invaders by secreting mucus and by the movement of its hairlike cilia.
1989 Ecol. Monogr. 59 248/2 We evaluated this invasion by determining what allows Myrica to be successful as a biological invader.
1999 D. Simon Return to Wholeness i. 23 Our immune system has a variety of different cells designed to disarm and disable any biological invader that may cause harm to us.
2003 Columbus (Ohio) Disp. (Nexis) 27 Oct. 1a In 1978, experts..began studying how biological invaders arrive in wood and wood products, including packing material, crates and pallets.
biological invasion n. Ecology the spread of an organism or species into an area formerly free of it, typically with detrimental effects such as the displacement or extinction of native species, destabilization of the invaded ecosystem, etc.; an instance of this; cf. invasion n. 4.
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1916 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 10 403 Europe is a terminal region in which from age to age many waves of biological invasion have spent themselves.
1972 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 264 295 Emigration from Africa has provided the main basis for biological invasion of Madagascar.
2002 National Wildlife (Electronic ed.) 1 Apr. Florida is suffering more from this biological invasion than any other state on the continent. More than 900 exotic plant species..have moved in.
biological membrane n. a membrane of biological origin; esp. that surrounding a cell or organelle and consisting chiefly of a lipid bilayer.
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1911 Science 28 July 103/2 Very probably this phenomenon is responsible in many instances for the formation of biological membranes.
1937 W. E. Loomis & C. A. Shull Methods in Plant Physiol. v. 81 Water diffuses rapidly through common biological membranes.
1982 T. M. Devlin Textbk. Biochem. v. 230 This bilayer conformation is the basic lipid structure of all biological membranes.
2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. xi. 447 In 1836, Frederic Daniell designed a battery with two vessels separated by a semipermeable biological membrane.
biological oxygen demand n. = biochemical oxygen demand n. at biochemical adj. and n. Compounds; abbreviated BOD.
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1926 Lancet 6 Mar. 503/2 The biological oxygen demand of sewage, of industrial waste, and of polluted river waters has been studied carefully.
1969 T. C. Thorstensen Pract. Leather Technol. xvii. 259 Lime..is discharged as a slurry from the process; it has a relatively high solids content and high biological oxygen demand.
2001 Beef Jan. 96/2 Oregon DEQ has identified Bear Creek as impaired by..biological oxygen demand (BOD).
biological passport n. a record of tests on blood and urine performed on an athlete over a period of time and used to monitor changes or discrepancies that could be attributed to the illicit use of performance-enhancing drugs; also attributive.
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2004 Science 30 July 635/3 Ideally,..each athlete would submit a biological ‘passport’ containing highlights of their blood chemistry.
2007 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 17 Oct. Blood and urine samples would be collected from all professional [cycle] riders to create a ‘biological passport’ that could be used in analyzing results from subsequent doping tests.
2008 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 3 Aug. (Sports section) 10/5 Doping controls in cycling have improved in the last two years, coinciding with biological passport profiles.
2012 Independent 26 July 4/1 Six of the competitors suspended—all track-and-field athletes—were caught in ‘biological passport’ tests.
biological psychiatrist n. a specialist or expert in biological psychiatry.
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1965 Jrnl. Forensic Sci. Soc. 5 211 The reviewer's success..owes everything to the precepts, scientific standards, and techniques which form the hallmark of biological psychiatrists and psychologists.
1984 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 23 July b6/2 We may wonder whether we..suffer from the much-publicized depression due to a chemical imbalance in the brain that is treated with drugs by biological psychiatrists.
1994 Esquire Mar. 86/1 Biological psychiatrists..hold the rather unromantic view that most mental disorders are biological or genetic and should be treated with drugs rather than with ‘talking cures’.
biological psychiatry n. the branch of psychiatry concerned with the biological basis for mental disorders, typically using physical methods or medication (as opposed to psychotherapy) as treatment.
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1947 J. M. Nielsen et al. Engrammes of Psychiatry (dust-jacket) This is a system of biological psychiatry. From it all the mysticism of psychiatry, which has puzzled physicians in other branches of medicine, is removed.
1985 Times 18 July 12/4 With biological psychiatry in the ascendancy, Freud's concepts are now held in low esteem by many British psychiatrists.
2004 L. Gask Short Introd. Psychiatry ii. 60 Biological psychiatry is about seeing psychiatric illness in terms of how the brain works and how normal brain function becomes disturbed in the presence of illness.
biological science n. any of the branches of biology; these sciences collectively (= biology n. 2); cf. life science n. at life n. Compounds 3.
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the world > life > biology > study > [noun] > biology
biology1799
organomy1801
physiognosya1832
biological science1856
organonomy1857
life science1861
biognosy1880
bugs1900
bioscience1941
bio1943
1856 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 146 226 Such a complete acquaintance is the great desideratum in every department of Biological Science.
1910 S. Sisson Text-bk. Vet. Anat. 17 Anatomy is the branch of biological science which deals with the form and structure of organisms, both animal and vegetal.
2002 Information World Rev. May 1/3 So far as biological sciences are concerned, knowledge management has become increasingly important to successful science.
biological shield n. a shield used for protection against radiation, esp. one covering a nuclear reactor or cyclotron.
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the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > [noun] > means of protection or defence > device or contrivance to protect a thing or person > device or substance protecting from radiation
biological shield1949
radioprotector1955
1949 U.S. Patent 2,476,249 5 The mount may be placed over or through a protective wall or so-called biological shield.
1957 Financial Times Ann. Rev. Brit. Industry 66/1 Reinforced concrete also provides the vital barrier against the insidious dangers of radiation. This ‘biological shield’ must totally enclose the reactor.
1998 Pop. Sci. Aug. 67 (caption) A containment structure called the Upper Biological Shield was hurled into the air, and landed in the mouth of the reactor shaft.
biological species n. a species as defined by biological relationships between its members, rather than by morphological or other features thought to be distinctive of it; esp. a group of organisms constituting a distinct and genetically related population whose members produce fertile offspring by breeding among themselves and generally not with members of other populations.
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the world > life > biology > taxonomy > taxon > [noun] > species or sub-species
shapec1400
species1608
subspecies1681
semispecies1825
infima species1843
conspeciesa1856
incipient species1859
relic1873
biological species1876
biological race1878
microspecies1897
clan1916
Jordanon1916
twin species1931
supraspecies1938
sibling species1940
species pair1942
phenon1943
biospecies1953
ochlospecies1962
1876 Amer. Cycl. XV. 234/2 Ideas derived from the study of the phenomena of generation enter in various ways into the conception of biological species.
1902 Ann. Bot. 16 236 Various names have been proposed for these physiologically, but as yet not morphologically, different varieties... Rostrup names them ‘Biological species’ (biologische Arten).
1959 New Statesman 7 Nov. 632/3 Man is the only successful biological species which has remained as a single interbreeding group, not radiating out in ‘cladogenesis’ into thousands of mutually infertile species.
1990 K. Carpenter & P. J. Currie Dinosaur Systematics (1992) Introd. 1 It is..the recognition that a morphological species is not necessarily the same as a biological species that concerns many dinosaur paleontologists today.
2008 Fungal Genetics & Biol. 45 812/2 Many such microsatellites are highly polymorphic, and therefore can help to identify individuals of a given biological species.
biological spectrum n. Botany the relative numbers of plant species per biological type (as aerophytes, hygrophytes, phanerophytes, etc.) occurring in a particular ecosystem, each expressed as a percentage of the total.
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1911 Bot. Gaz. 51 309 The flora of a region is then classified into these ten groups, and the number of species in each group is expressed in per cent of the total. This numerical arrangement is called a biological spectrum.
1982 M. J. Dring Biol. Marine Plants (1986) vii. 154 If all of the benthic algal species in the flora for a given region are assigned a life-form according to this scheme, a ‘biological spectrum’ of the flora can be produced.
2003 Willdenowia 33 82 In the biological spectrum of the flora of Lemnos the therophytes predominate with about 55 %.
biological value n. [after German biologische Wertigkeit (K. Thomas 1909, in Archiv f. Physiologie 219)] the proportion of the nutrients from a food, esp. a protein, that can become incorporated into the tissues of the body, or be used by it as energy; spec. the percentage of nitrogen from a particular protein source absorbed by the body that is not excreted.
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the world > food and drink > food > [noun] > food value
food value1859
fuel-value1886
biological value1915
1915 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 23 252 Heating casein in a moist condition for one hour in an autoclave at 15 pounds' pressure destroys its biological value as a complete protein.
1960 A. E. Bender Dict. Nutrition & Food Technol. 17/2 The biological value of a protein is the amount, when fed under standard conditions, that is retained in the body for synthesis of body protein.
1993 Flex Feb. 29/2 A bodybuilder weighing 200lbs would require 200 grams of protein. Even more, if some of the protein..was of low biological value.
2006 Dogs Monthly July 25/2 Foods are described as having a biological value—the higher the percentage the better the quality of the protein it provides.
biological warfare n. warfare involving the use of biological weapons.
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society > armed hostility > war > types of war > [noun] > chemical or germ warfare
chemical warfare1912
germ warfare1919
bacteriological warfare1924
biological warfare1933
biowar1950
biowarfare1951
1933 Times 6 Sept. 9/2 Professor Banse says that the French first applied biological warfare.
1951 ‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids ii. 31 The United States Government took the suggestion seriously enough to deny emphatically that it controlled any satellites designed to conduct biological warfare directly upon human beings.
1992 New Scientist 15 Feb. 46/1 Agricultural scientists, intent on saving the fynbos, have resorted to a form of biological warfare, deploying specially selected organisms, or ‘bioherbicides’, to attack the invading plants.
2004 J. Playfair Living with Germs (2007) ii. 35 Rather like plague, but milder, is tularemia... Both infections are potential candidates for biological warfare.
biological weapon n. a biological agent harmful to plants, animals, or people, esp. a pathogen, deployed as a weapon to cause widespread devastation; (also) a device for the deployment, release, or dispersal of such an agent.Quot. 1918 refers to a ‘weapon’ to be used against infection.
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1918 Mil. Surg. 42 529 Search for biological weapons of attack.]
1946 Life 18 Nov. 130/2 Almost any biological laboratory, any brewery, distillery, or organic chemical plant can be used to produce biological weapons.
1961 N. Cousins In Place of Folly 54 If the war comes, the question will be academic whether a man is dying of encephalitis produced by a biological weapon or aplastic anemia produced by radiation.
2001 Times 22 Oct. 5/1 Advances in genetic technology will soon allow terrorists to create a new generation of ‘designer’ diseases that are many times more powerful than today's biological weapons.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.n.1822