metastasize
verb
me·tas·ta·size
mə-ˈta-stə-ˌsīz 
metastasized; metastasizing
: to spread or grow by or as if by metastasis
died of lung cancer which had metastasized throughout his body—
G. P. Elliott
G. P. ElliottExamples of metastasize in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Mellencamp was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer earlier this year, after her melanoma metastasized in her brain and lungs.
—Elizabeth Stanton , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Fear of political caprice masquerading as strategy, of a trade war metastasizing into financial contagion, and of a world where traditional safe havens—currencies, institutions, alliances—no longer offer much safety at all.
—Mohammed Soliman, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Apr. 2025
Trump’s Comments Raise Legal Alarms Domestically, the mechanisms of deportation or the state punishing its enemies are unlikely to stop with Venezuelans or advocates of a Palestinian state, since the mechanism of power is based on paranoia, with one threat metastasizing and expanding.
—Viet Thanh Nguyễn, Time, 28 Apr. 2025
As more cysts develop, the mass looks and acts like cancer, forming necrotic cavities and sometimes metastasizing to other organs, such as the lungs and brain.
—ArsTechnica, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for metastasize
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Elizabeth Stanton , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Fear of political caprice masquerading as strategy, of a trade war metastasizing into financial contagion, and of a world where traditional safe havens—currencies, institutions, alliances—no longer offer much safety at all.
—Mohammed Soliman, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Apr. 2025
Trump’s Comments Raise Legal Alarms Domestically, the mechanisms of deportation or the state punishing its enemies are unlikely to stop with Venezuelans or advocates of a Palestinian state, since the mechanism of power is based on paranoia, with one threat metastasizing and expanding.
—Viet Thanh Nguyễn, Time, 28 Apr. 2025
As more cysts develop, the mass looks and acts like cancer, forming necrotic cavities and sometimes metastasizing to other organs, such as the lungs and brain.
—ArsTechnica, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for metastasize
Cite this Entry
“Metastasize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metastasize. Accessed 7 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
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
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