- the production of light by living organisms, as by fireflies or many deep-water cephalopods
- such light
bioluminescence
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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bioluminescence
noun
The emission of visible light by certain living organisms, such as the firefly and various fish, marine invertebrates, fungi, and bacteria. Bioluminescence is caused by chemical reactions.
Related Forms:
- bi′o·lu′mi·nes′cent
adjective
bioluminescence
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"Bioluminescence." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Bioluminescence.
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Bioluminescence. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Bioluminescence
The emission of light by living organisms, such as fireflies, glowworms, and certain fish, jellyfish, plankton, fungi, and bacteria. It occurs when a pigment (usually luciferin) is oxidized without giving off heat. Although it is believed that bioluminescence is involved in animal communication, its function in many organisms has yet to be understood. Bioluminescence is a form of chemiluminescence.
Compare chemiluminescence
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MLA Style
"Bioluminescence." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Bioluminescence.
APA Style
Bioluminescence. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Bioluminescence
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"Bioluminescence." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Bioluminescence.
APA Style
Bioluminescence. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Bioluminescence
Sentence Examples
- On some figures, glow-in-the-dark accents replicate the bioluminescence of the creatures of Pandora.
WORDS NEAR bioluminescence IN THE DICTIONARY
- bioluminescence
- biologized
- biologizes
- biologizing