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pheromone

pheromone

40 7.0
A chemical signal an animal makes to change the behavior of other animals of the same species
  • noun
  • /ˈfɛrəˌmoʊn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : feromona
  • Well, maybe it's because of the pheromones that you're giving off.
  • sex pheromone
  • release pheromones
  • attract with pheromones

How vital are pheromones to Ant behavior?

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Examples

  • Elephant pheromones detected.

  • How vital are pheromones to Ant behavior?

  • How much of that pheromone can you get your hands on?

  • There is a specific breath pheromone that some people have, and you know it like you guys know it.

  • Maybe it's some kind of pheromone.

  • I asked him what pheromones had to do with his present condition.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Wake up and smell the pheromones.

  • In other words, the shorter the path, the thicker the pheromone trail is going to be.

  • We're detecting the pheromones possibly, but certainly the odors in their breath.

  • Ants communicate with each other by releasing a pheromone that signals danger.

Surface Forms

pheromone singular
pheromones plural

Morphology

pheromone = hormone (semi-transparent) = phero + mone

Related to 'hormone' so learners may infer it is a chemical messenger, but the specific sense (an external chemical signal between animals) is not fully predictable from the base.

Etymology

Pheromone comes from Greek parts phero- ('to carry') and hormone ('to excite'). So, a pheromone is a chemical that 'carries' a message to 'excite' or change the behavior of other animals.