anaerobic
adjective
ˌan-ˌer-ˈō-
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In Greek, the prefix a- or an- means "not" or "without", and bios means "life". Anaerobic sports and exercise, such as gymnastics, weight lifting, and sprinting, are of high intensity but short duration, so they don't involve much oxygen intake. Anaerobic exercise triggers a different type of cell activity from aerobic exercise. As a result, it doesn't do much for your heart and lungs and it doesn't burn off fat; what it does do is build muscle. Anaerobic bacteria are bacteria that live without oxygen. They're responsible for several nasty conditions, including tetanus, gangrene, botulism, and food poisoning. They often live in deep wounds, so a bad dog bite—or, even worse, a human bite—can be dangerous, since the mouth is full of anaerobic bacteria. But most anaerobic bacteria are harmless, and many are essential to our lives.
Examples of anaerobic in a Sentence
Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024
Your body cannot provide enough oxygen to sustain anaerobic exercise for extended periods.
—Amy Kwan, Verywell Health, 29 Oct. 2024
Their farming venture includes a twenty-six-acre greenhouse for strawberries, improved by waste heat from anaerobic digesters.
—Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024
The review noted that magnesium supplementation may improve aerobic and anaerobic exercise performance.
—Allison Herries, Verywell Health, 10 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for anaerobic 
Dictionary Entries Near anaerobic
Cite this Entry
“Anaerobic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anaerobic. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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anaerobic
adjective
Medical Definition
anaerobic
adjective
-ˌe(-ə)r-
Jane E. Brody, The New York TimesBob Condor, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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