suspended animation
Noun: A state in which all vital bodily functions (such as breathing, heartbeat, and consciousness) are temporarily and drastically slowed down or stopped, making the organism appear dead. This state is typically induced by severe lack of oxygen (asphyxia), extreme cold, or other traumatic conditions, and is potentially reversible.
This term is used to describe a biological state, either occurring naturally in some animals (e.g., as a survival mechanism) or as a theoretical or medical concept for humans. It often appears in scientific, medical, and science fiction contexts. - The doctor explained that the patient was not dead but in a state of suspended animation following the near-drowning. - Some species of frog can survive freezing through a form of suspended animation.
- The science fiction novel explored the use of suspended animation for long-distance space travel.
- Researchers are studying how to induce suspended animation in trauma patients to buy time for surgery.
- The bear's hibernation is not true suspended animation, as its metabolic processes continue, albeit very slowly.
- Figurative Use: The term can be used metaphorically to describe a state of inactivity or temporary halt in progress.
- After the funding was cut, the research project fell into a state of suspended animation.
- Anabiosis (n): A state of suspended animation or temporary cessation of vital activity, often used in biological contexts.
- Cryptobiosis (n): A more extreme biological state of metabolic inactivity, often in response to desiccation.
- Torpor (n): A state of physical or mental inactivity; lethargy. (Less severe than suspended animation, often used for daily cycles in animals.)
- Hibernation (n): A prolonged state of deep sleep and reduced metabolic activity during winter. (A specific, natural form of torpor.)
- Biological stasis
- Metabolic arrest
- Vital suspension
- Homeostasis (n): The state of steady internal conditions maintained by living things.
- Vitality (n): The state of being strong and active; energy.
- Clinical death: The cessation of blood circulation and breathing. Suspended animation is a state that may resemble or occur alongside clinical death but implies potential reversibility.
- Induced hypothermia: A medical procedure that lowers body temperature to slow metabolism, sometimes described as a therapeutic form of suspended animation.
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a temporary cessation of vital functions with loss of consciousness resembling death; usually resulting from asphyxia
