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
G. P. Elliott
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Melanoma can commonly metastasize to the heart and cause cardiac complications and disease. Jenna Curcio, Allure, 8 Sep. 2022 Minor issues will bloom into major headaches; major issues will metastasize into expensive nightmares. Erik Shani, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2022 International leaders appear to be bracing for an extended period of conflict, warning on Friday that the global threats posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could metastasize in the weeks and months ahead. Washington Post, 6 May 2022 In the months to come, the fraud would metastasize. Tony Romm And Yeganeh Torbati, Anchorage Daily News, 15 May 2022 The feud can metastasize into endless and potentially mutually destructive outcomes for the corresponding parties. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2022 This is a big deal, particularly for the people battling the kinds of cancer this lab studies—the most lethal forms, which tend to recur and metastasize. Max G. Levy, Wired, 9 Mar. 2022 Western officials said the attack at NATO’s doorstep was not merely a geographic expansion of the Russian invasion but a shift of tactics in a war many already worried might metastasize into a larger European conflict. New York Times, 13 Mar. 2022 The scammers and grifters might be viewed as people who allowed the expectations of Asian American identity to metastasize into something perilous. Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2022 See More
Jenna Curcio, Allure, 8 Sep. 2022 Minor issues will bloom into major headaches; major issues will metastasize into expensive nightmares. Erik Shani, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2022 International leaders appear to be bracing for an extended period of conflict, warning on Friday that the global threats posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could metastasize in the weeks and months ahead. Washington Post, 6 May 2022 In the months to come, the fraud would metastasize. Tony Romm And Yeganeh Torbati, Anchorage Daily News, 15 May 2022 The feud can metastasize into endless and potentially mutually destructive outcomes for the corresponding parties. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2022 This is a big deal, particularly for the people battling the kinds of cancer this lab studies—the most lethal forms, which tend to recur and metastasize. Max G. Levy, Wired, 9 Mar. 2022 Western officials said the attack at NATO’s doorstep was not merely a geographic expansion of the Russian invasion but a shift of tactics in a war many already worried might metastasize into a larger European conflict. New York Times, 13 Mar. 2022 The scammers and grifters might be viewed as people who allowed the expectations of Asian American identity to metastasize into something perilous. Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1907, in the meaning defined above
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
Paul Brodeur, The New Yorker