metastasize

verb

me·​tas·​ta·​size mə-ˈta-stə-ˌsīz 

metastasized; metastasizing

intransitive verb

: to spread or grow by or as if by metastasis

… died of lung cancer which had metastasized throughout his body.

—G. P. Elliott

Examples of metastasize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

If left untreated, squamous cell carcinoma may grow deeper into the skin, causing painful symptoms and metastasizing to other parts of the body. —Uwa Ede-Osifo, Dallas Morning News, 16 Feb. 2026

Onassis died on May 19, 1994, after her cancer metastasized. —Erin Jensen, USA Today, 13 Feb. 2026

Emily Brontë’s novel is a book that stains — its emotions seep through generations, its hatreds metastasize, its love transforms into something unholy and permanent. —Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 11 Feb. 2026

On the left, that dislike has metastasized into an all-out fury, which is manifesting itself in all kinds of intolerable ways. —Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for metastasize

• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise
• apologize
• capitalize
• categorize
• characterize
• commercialize
• conceptualize
• contrariwise
• criminalize
• decentralize

Kids Definition

metastasize

verb

me·​tas·​ta·​size mə-ˈtas-tə-ˌsīz 

: to spread or grow by or as if by metastasis

Medical Definition

metastasize

intransitive verb

me·​tas·​ta·​size

variants also British metastasise

mə-ˈtas-tə-ˌsīz 

metastasized also British metastasised; metastasizing also British metastasising

: to spread by metastasis

… all ten were primary brain cancers; that is, they had originated in the brain, and not metastasized there from elsewhere in the body.

—Paul Brodeur, The New Yorker

metastasization noun

also British metastasisation

mə-ˌtas-tə-sə-ˈzā-shən