biological

adjective

variants: or less commonly biologic

|Updated on: 14 Jun 2018

Examples: biological in a Sentence

1 : of or relating to biology or to life and living processes

2 : used in or produced by applied biology

3 : connected by direct genetic relationship rather than by adoption or marriage

her biological father

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biologically

play \-ji-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

See biological defined for English-language learners

See biological defined for kids

Examples of biological in a Sentence

the rights of the biological father in this case

Recent Examples of biological from the Web

Most of the Sargassum that’s blooming off the coast of Brazil has broader blades than the weed in the Sargasso Sea, says Amy Siuda, a biological oceanographer at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, who has examined hundreds of samples.

— katie langin, Science | AAAS, "Mysterious masses of seaweed assault Caribbean islands," 11 June 2018
The paper also said North Korea is capable of cultivating lethal biological agents such as anthrax and smallpox that could be turned into weapons.

— jonathan cheng, WSJ, "Step One in Disarming North Korea: Knowing What’s in Kim’s Arsenal," 8 June 2018
But the gas has nevertheless caused excitement among planetary scientists; its presence could be evidence that Mars is not quite as dead as is often supposed, in either the geological sense or the biological one.

— The Economist, "Seasonal changes in Mars’s air are probably not signs of life. Probably," 7 June 2018
Audrey was dealt a tough hand from the start; she was raised by her godmother starting at two weeks after birth due to both of her biological parents being drug-addicted and lacking stable residences.

— michael smerconish, Philly.com, "Why I'm donating the profits of my book to this amazing Philly organization | Michael Smerconish," 25 May 2018
Often that involves working with the biological parents and inviting them into the home for visits or nursing.

— mike kilen, ajc, "Iowa couple fosters 100 babies after losing son, daughter on Mother’s Day," 12 May 2018
The wait time for children to get permanent homes – adoption, guardianship or a return to biological parents – also decreased.

— hillary borrud, OregonLive.com, "Oregon pilot program for foster system lawyers 'wildly successful' but limited," 4 May 2018
This was a young lady with no children of her own doing God's work caring for children who had often times been abused, neglected and abandoned by their biological parents.

— carol robinson, AL.com, "Alabama failed to protect foster mom strangled to death by teen, lawsuit claims," 2 May 2018
There is no family support and there is often destructive intervention into their lives by biological parents.

— lisa deaderick, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Helping former foster youth start and finish a new chapter," 29 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'biological.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.