thermoregulatory

adjective

ther·​mo·​reg·​u·​la·​to·​ry ˌthər-mō-ˈre-gyə-lə-ˌtȯr-ē How to pronounce thermoregulatory (audio)
: tending to maintain a body at a particular temperature whatever its environmental temperature
thermoregulatory mechanisms

Examples of thermoregulatory in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Thurston says that hot flashes are the body's attempt to dissipate heat caused by rapid drops in certain reproductive hormones that impact the hypothalamus, which houses the thermoregulatory centers of the brain. Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 28 Sep. 2024 Migration itself takes energy, and a corresponding spike in heart rate was visible in the data, but that increase only offset a small part of the thermoregulatory gain. Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 26 Sep. 2024 This could be because short-duration, high-intensity heat resets dormant or dysfunctional thermoregulatory systems in people with depression, says Ashley Mason, a clinical psychologist and an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Lauren Leffer, Scientific American, 3 July 2024 Deaths in excess of 70 000 people during the 2003 European heat wave, 10 000 people during the 2010 Russian heat wave, and high death tolls from numerous other heat waves1 are staggering demonstrations that extreme climatic conditions are already exceeding human thermoregulatory capacity. Paul Douglas, Star Tribune, 7 July 2021 Concavenator corcovatus using its hump as a thermoregulatory device, absorbing sunlight in the warmth of a morning sunrise. Riley Black, Discover Magazine, 27 Mar. 2020 How cool is that?Tree-hugging koalas demonstrate a novel thermoregulatory mechanism for arboreal mammals. Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2016 Importantly, drinking well above thirst doubled the severity of gut discomfort, which likely overshadowed any cardiovascular or thermoregulatory benefits from drinking the additional fluid. Patrick Wilson, Outside Online, 15 Oct. 2020 For similar thermoregulatory reasons, the reverse is also commonly true—in hotter climates warm-blooded animals’ appendages become larger, relative to their body size. Lina Zeldovich, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of thermoregulatory was in 1941

Dictionary Entries Near thermoregulatory

Cite this Entry

“Thermoregulatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thermoregulatory. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Medical Definition

thermoregulatory

adjective
ther·​mo·​reg·​u·​la·​to·​ry -ˈreg-yə-lə-ˌtōr-ē, -ˌtȯr- How to pronounce thermoregulatory (audio)
: tending to maintain a body at a particular temperature whatever its environmental temperature
thermoregulatory adjustments
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!