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growth regulator

growth regulator

5.1
A natural or man-made substance in plants that controls how they grow and develop
  • noun
  • /ɡroʊθ ˈrɛɡjʊˌleɪtər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : regulador del crecimiento
  • The decade also saw BARC's discoveries of new, safer insect controls based on isolating natural chemicals, such as insect growth regulators.
  • insect growth regulator
  • plant growth regulator

Examples

  • APP can also be an autocrine growth regulator, a cell membrane receptor, and a factor in cell surface adhesion.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The seed treatment with plant growth regulators affects germination time, leading to better growth and improved yield in stress conditions (Piri et al., 2009).

    Academic text (2014)
  • "We reassured them that the insect growth regulator is safe to people and livestock.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Application of different types of plant growth regulators via different modes and at different growth stages of crop plants, especially at the early stage, has been reported to be very effective in alleviating the adverse effects of stress factors.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Such coatings could contain fungicides, herbicides, nutrients, growth regulators, and beneficial microbes.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Contrasting and comparing the effects of these growth regulators in C-Fern and higher plants can be an effective approach in exercises dealing with plant differentiation and development.

    Academic text (1998)
  • From the results of this study, it could be envisaged that the inhibition of germination under drought stress conditions probably resulted from osmotic effects, while seed treatment with plant growth regulators improved performance.

    Academic text (2014)
  • As for the influence of plant growth regulators, salicylic acid was found to be comparatively more effective in alleviating the adverse effects of drought stress than ascorbic acid.

    Academic text (2014)
  • An example: He wants to see whether compounds called growth regulators, like cytokinins or gibberellic acid, can coax plants to yield bigger—and seedless—berries.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Farmers use a growth regulator to enhance the size and quality of their crops.

Synonyms

plant hormone
vsgrowth regulator
  • Specialized
1 3.8

A natural chemical in plants that controls their growth and responses

applies to natural plant-made substances but also to synthetic ones
phytohormone
vsgrowth regulator
  • Specialized
7.8

A chemical plants make that controls their growth and development

includes natural and synthetic substances rather than only those made inside plants

How Inhibitory

biocide
  • Specialized
1 7.5
antigrowth
  • Specialized
7.8
retardant
  • Specialized
20 6.8
growth regulator
  • Specialized
5.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

growth + regulator

The compound is a straightforward noun + noun combination where 'growth' specifies what is being regulated and 'regulator' denotes an agent or substance that controls something; therefore a learner who knows both words can infer 'something that regulates growth'. This compositional pattern (agent/substance that regulates X) is common across languages and follows regular English word-formation, so the meaning is immediately predictable.

Etymology

Growth regulator comes from the simple image of tiny helpers inside a plant that tell it how to grow. The word growth shows what they act on and regulator means they 'control' or change that growth, so the phrase now means a substance that makes a plant grow more, less, or differently.