biological

adjective

variants: or less commonly

biologic

Definition of biological

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

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

Medical and educational researchers point to findings that adolescents' biological sleep cycles change during puberty, meaning their bodies are wired not to get sleepy until about 11 p.m.

— allison ross, The Courier-Journal, "Are JCPS, other districts starting too early for teens? Research may be a wake-up call," 19 July 2017
The treaty permits limited exploitation of biological resources but no exploitation of mineral resources.

— peter coy, Bloomberg.com, "The New Antarctic Iceberg Is Big Enough for Runways, Water Mines, and Crazy Dance Parties," 18 July 2017
Or maybe there's an unknown biological switch that's triggered by the chemicals in artificial sweeteners.

— cleve r. wootson jr., chicagotribune.com, "Diet drinks are associated with weight gain, new research suggests," 18 July 2017
Sterling K. Brown, who plays Randall, will compete in the same category as Ventimiglia, and Ron Cephas Jones also earned a supporting actor nod for his performance as Randall’s biological father, William.

— laura bradley, HWD, "Chrissy Metz Thinks Her Emmy Nomination Is “the Best Welcome-Back Gift Ever”," 13 July 2017
Much more work remains to be done before biological storage systems can rival conventional memory devices in speed and accuracy.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Video clip encoded in DNA of living bacteria and played back," 12 July 2017
That question still looms, and may eventually have something to do with biological imperatives other than sinking teeth into flesh.

— brian switek, Scientific American Blog Network, "Nothing but the Tooth," 10 July 2017
The extra copy, free of the burden of performing the original gene’s biological duties, can accumulate changes through random mutations.

— christie wilcox, Scientific American, "Moonlighting Genes Evolve for a Venomous Job," 10 July 2017
For a disease to jump the biological barrier between species is no simple matter.

— john fauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "A family of fatal brain diseases has baffled scientists while infecting new species," 6 July 2017

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.

First Known Use of biological

1818

Other Biology Terms

autochthonous, fecund, homunculus, phylogeny, substrate

BIOLOGICAL Defined for English Language Learners

biological

adjective

Definition of biological for English Language Learners

: of or relating to biology or to life and living things
: related through birth

BIOLOGICAL Defined for Kids

biological

adjective bi·o·log·i·cal \ˌbī-ə-ˈlä-ji-kəl\

Definition of biological for Students

1 : of or relating to biology or to life and living things biological activity
2 : related by birth

Medical Dictionary

biological

adjective

variants: also

biologic

Medical Definition of biological

1: of or relating to biology or to life and living processes
2: used in or produced by applied biology
3: related by direct genetic relationship rather than by adoption or marriage an adoptee who searched for years for her biological parents