natural selection

noun

: a natural process that results in the survival and reproductive success of individuals or groups best adjusted to their environment and that leads to the perpetuation of genetic qualities best suited to that particular environment

Examples of natural selection in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Why, then, didn’t natural selection prune them away? —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026

Deepening understanding Ignoring the power of natural selection can mean missing opportunities – or making things worse. —Owen D. Jones, The Conversation, 26 May 2026

Even in low numbers, those alternate genes have a chance to be expressed, as if natural selection could reach into the past and redeploy those genes when needed. —Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 21 May 2026

The strain is robust: fitness stays above 90 percent of wild-type E. coli, and natural selection did not revert the changes over 450 generations. —Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for natural selection

• abjection
• advection
• affection
• bijection
• bisection
• collection
• complexion
• confection
• connection
• connexion
• convection
• correction

Kids Definition

natural selection

noun

: a natural process in which individuals or groups best adapted to the conditions under which they live survive and produce young and poorly adapted forms are eliminated

Medical Definition

natural selection

noun

: a natural process that results in the survival and reproductive success of individuals or groups best adjusted to their environment and that leads to the perpetuation of genetic qualities best suited to that particular environment