anoxia
noun
an·ox·ia
a-ˈnäk-sē-ə 
1
: hypoxia especially of such severity as to result in permanent damage
2
: the absence of dissolved oxygen in a body of water
Anoxia (zero milligrams 02 per liter) is not only deadly for biota, but is also a condition that initiates different microbial and geochemical reactions.—
Nathan Hawley
Nathan HawleyExamples of anoxia in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Possible causes include massive volcanic eruptions in the Siberian Traps, which released vast amounts of greenhouse gasses, leading to global warming, ocean acidification and widespread anoxia.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2024
Oxygen masks, for instance, failed often enough that over half of fliers experienced some form of anoxia.
—Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024
Song and colleagues used this approach to discover that each Capitanian marine extinction pulse coincided with widespread oxygen starvation in the ocean, called anoxia.
—Howard Lee, Ars Technica, 25 July 2023
There are examples of trilobite clusters from later in the fossil record that appear to have perished from sudden anoxia, or lack of oxygen, in the water.
—Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 17 Oct. 2019
When the brain is starved of blood flow (ischemia) and oxygen (anoxia), the patient faints in a fraction of a minute and his or her electroencephalogram, or EEG, becomes isoelectric—in other words, flat.
—Christof Koch, Scientific American, 19 May 2020
These eruptions ejected massive amounts of heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, enabling runaway global warming and related effects such as ocean acidification and anoxia, a loss of dissolved oxygen in water.
—Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 30 Sep. 2019
Just as in the late Devonian, increased weathering would have brought on anoxia that suffocated the oceans.
—Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 30 Sep. 2019
Scientists had previously suspected that anoxia, or a lack of oxygen, was responsible for destroying aquatic life.
—Lucas Joel, Scientific American, 15 May 2018
Scott Travers, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2024
Oxygen masks, for instance, failed often enough that over half of fliers experienced some form of anoxia.
—Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024
Song and colleagues used this approach to discover that each Capitanian marine extinction pulse coincided with widespread oxygen starvation in the ocean, called anoxia.
—Howard Lee, Ars Technica, 25 July 2023
There are examples of trilobite clusters from later in the fossil record that appear to have perished from sudden anoxia, or lack of oxygen, in the water.
—Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 17 Oct. 2019
When the brain is starved of blood flow (ischemia) and oxygen (anoxia), the patient faints in a fraction of a minute and his or her electroencephalogram, or EEG, becomes isoelectric—in other words, flat.
—Christof Koch, Scientific American, 19 May 2020
These eruptions ejected massive amounts of heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, enabling runaway global warming and related effects such as ocean acidification and anoxia, a loss of dissolved oxygen in water.
—Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 30 Sep. 2019
Just as in the late Devonian, increased weathering would have brought on anoxia that suffocated the oceans.
—Michael Greshko, National Geographic, 30 Sep. 2019
Scientists had previously suspected that anoxia, or a lack of oxygen, was responsible for destroying aquatic life.
—Lucas Joel, Scientific American, 15 May 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'anoxia.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Anoxia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anoxia. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
anoxia
noun
an·ox·ia
a-ˈnäk-sē-ə
: a condition in which too little oxygen (as at high altitudes) reaches the tissues
Medical Definition
anoxia
noun
an·ox·ia
ə-ˈnäk-sē-ə, a-
: hypoxia especially of such severity as to result in permanent damage
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