bodily process
1
3.4
- noun
- Specialized
:
proceso corporal
- Besides allowing scientists to study the bodily processes of health and disease at the cellular and sub-cellular level, biotechnology has the potential for eliminating certain genetic disorders that afflict human children at conception.
Examples
-
That is especially genuine with persons who are already old and in their middle ages as a result of the slowing down of the bodily processes, particularly the digestive system, plus the body's ability to convert fats to energy.
Blog text (32) -
They spend much time engaging in bodily processes rather than intellectual pursuits.
Academic text (2000) -
The exact coordination of skeletal muscles and the central nervous system is regulated and controlled by bodily processes that are covered by the term "coordination."
Blog text (11) -
Heat due to food ingestion is primarily caused by the bodily processes of digestion and can last up to six hours after food is first eaten.
Academic text (2007) -
I latched onto this crazy notion that my brain controlled all my bodily processes (and some of my outside environment too) and decided I REFUSED to allow anything to be wrong with me.
Blog text (32) -
The Oxford Paperback Dictionary gives the following definition of "disease": an unhealthy condition caused by infection or diet or by faulty functioning of a bodily process.
Blog text (20) -
Breathing and digestion are essential bodily processes that keep us alive.
-
Sleep plays a critical role in the restoration and regulation of various bodily processes.
-
Hydration is vital for maintaining healthy bodily processes such as circulation and temperature control.
Synonyms
8
2.4
A natural process in the body, like breathing or digestion
3
3.9
A process that happens inside a living thing and helps it live
1
3.9
A natural set of actions that happen inside living things, like breathing or digestion
Antonyms
How Automatic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a natural function or activity within the body' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'bodily' (related to the body) with 'process' (a sequence of steps or changes). This compositional pattern is literal and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Bodily process comes from the literal words bodily, meaning 'in the body', and process, meaning 'a series of steps'. Imagine a small factory inside you where tasks like breathing and digestion are steps, so the phrase means 'a natural function that happens in the body'.