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

Criscilla died of cancer, which metastasized elsewhere after she was initially diagnosed with colon cancer in 2018. —Ilana Kaplan, PEOPLE, 3 Dec. 2025

None of Homan’s worries metastasized. —Alex Nowrasteh, Oc Register, 2 Dec. 2025

Prostate cancer that has metastasized and spread to other parts of the body has a survival rate of about 38%, according to the Mayo Clinic. —Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 25 Nov. 2025

Antisemitism has roots in extremes on both the right and the left and metastasizes into the spaces in between as long as mainstreaming and normalization of antisemitism continues. —Dr. Jacqueline A. Hart, Boston Herald, 22 Nov. 2025

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