metabolize

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μετᾰβολή (metabolḗ, “change, mutation”) + -ize.

verb

1. (biology, intransitive) To undergo metabolism.
2. (biology, transitive) To cause a substance to undergo metabolism.
   Among the many types of juice, grapefruit stands out from the pack because it changes the way some people absorb and metabolize different drugs. 2004, Walter C. Willett, “News About What You Drink”, in Mother Earth News
   The genes in question encode two enzymes that metabolize alcohol and its breakdown products; the two enzymes are known as alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase. 2004–05, Dustin Stephens, Robert Dudley, “The Drunken Monkey Hypothesis”, in Journal of Natural History, page 43
3. (biology, transitive) To produce a substance using metabolism.
4. (by extension, transitive) To absorb and process as if by metabolism.
   We believe this to be the true way to teach zoölogy, for we doubt the value to a man of a mass of indefinite ill-digested text-book information. Occasionally an omnivore can take in every thin, and digest and so metabolize it as to organize it into healthy mental tissue. They are, however, the few. 1887-03-18, L. H., “Zoölogy in the college course”, in Science, volume IX, number 215, page 264