oxygen debt
1
5.7
- noun
- /ˈɑksɪdʒən dɛt/
- Specialized
:
deuda de oxígeno
- They are also able to build up high temporary oxygen debts.
Examples
-
Oxygen debt, oxygen debt, he reminds himself.
Fiction book (1995) -
The more often you train, the higher the oxygen debt.
Blog text (33) -
Mind you, if I ask, how does oxygen debt burn fat?
Blog text (33) -
Muscles burning from oxygen debt... until... the mass slowly begins to move...
Fiction book (1998) -
Oxygen debt, oxygen debt, he reminds himself.
Fiction book (1995) -
For physique through an oxygen debt, an afterburn effect may then be appealing.
Blog text (33) -
This will only send you into oxygen debt and sap the energy you'll need later in the race when everyone else is tiring.
Blog text (24) -
Lactic acidosis is a key marker for severe sepsis and is associated with significant cellular oxygen debt.
Academic text (2005) -
Oxygen debt elevates the sleeping metabolic process from the body, so long as you’ve completed the session; in that case, your body will lose weight.
Blog text (33) -
After running the marathon, she experienced an oxygen debt that required several minutes of deep breathing to recover.
Synonyms
A temporary lack of oxygen in the muscles during very hard exercise
How Severe
- Specialized
1
5.7
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
oxygen + debt
A B1 learner who knows 'oxygen' and 'debt' (the idea of owing something) can readily infer that 'oxygen debt' denotes an oxygen shortfall the body 'owes' after exercise that must be 'repaid' by increased breathing. This is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common metaphorical extension (owing/repaying) used in medical contexts, so the compound’s meaning is compositionally derivable from its parts.
Etymology
Oxygen debt uses a simple money picture: during hard exercise the body 'borrows' oxygen to keep going, and later it 'pays back' that debt by breathing harder. So, the phrase explains the short lack of oxygen after exercise and why you breathe heavily afterward.