animal model

noun

: an animal sufficiently like humans in its anatomy, physiology, or response to a pathogen to be used in medical research in order to obtain results that can be extrapolated to human medicine

also : a pathological or physiological condition that occurs in such an animal and is similar to one occurring in humans

Examples of animal model in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The team homed in on this metabolite, administering oral doses to aged mice – an animal model that could best mirror humans – and then assessed changes in muscle strength, endurance, mitochondrial function, inflammatory markers and gene expression. —New Atlas, 4 July 2025

Looking ahead, the researchers plan to test the fungus' potential in animal models and, ultimately, human trials. —Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 29 June 2025

Together, these moves represent a potentially monumental shift in American science — one that could spare millions of animals from painful experiments and, advocates hope, speed up the adoption of cutting-edge technologies to produce better, more reliable research than animal models ever did. —Rachel Fobar, Vox, 14 May 2025

Intervening at the molecular level can restore function, at least in animal models. —William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for animal model

• caudal
• caudle
• dawdle
• twaddle
• waddle
• remodel

Medical Definition

animal model

noun

: an animal sufficiently like humans in its anatomy, physiology, or response to a pathogen to be used in medical research in order to obtain results that can be extrapolated to human medicine

also : a pathological or physiological condition that occurs in such an animal and is similar (as in its pathology or physiology) to a human condition

experimental allergic encephalomyelitis is a useful animal model in the study of multiple sclerosis in humans