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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Metabolism \Me*tab"o*lism\, n. (Physiol.)
1. The act or process, by which living tissues or cells take
up and convert into their own proper substance the
nutritive material brought to them by the blood, or by
which they transform their cell protoplasm into simpler
substances, which are fitted either for excretion or for
some special purpose, as in the manufacture of the
digestive enzymes. Hence, metabolism may be either
constructive ({anabolism}), or destructive ({catabolism}).
[1913 Webster]

2. (Biol.) The series of chemical changes which take place in
an organism, by means of which food is manufactured and
utilized and waste materials are eliminated.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]


Disassimilation \Dis`as*sim`i*la"tion\, n. (Physics)
The decomposition of complex substances, within the organism,
into simpler ones suitable only for excretion, with evolution
of energy, -- a normal nutritional process the reverse of
assimilation; downward metabolism; -- now more commonly
called {catabolism}.
[1913 Webster PJC]

The breaking down of already existing chemical
compounds into simpler ones, sometimes called
disassimilation. --Martin.
[1913 Webster]


catabolism \catabolism\ n.
the breakdown of more complex substances into simpler ones
with release of energy, in living organisms; destructive or
downward metabolism; -- a form of metabolism, opposed to
{anabolism}. See also {Disassimilation}. [Formerly spelled
{katabolism}.]

Syn: katabolism, dissimilation, destructive metabolism.
[WordNet 1.5]