ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Labile

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈleɪbaɪl/ · Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Labile is an adjective meaning Liable to slip, err, fall, or apostatize.

Meaning

Liable to slip, err, fall, or apostatize.

More Meanings

  1. Apt or likely to change.
  2. (chemistry, of a compound or bond) Kinetically unstable; rapidly cleaved (and possibly reformed).
  3. (linguistics, of a verb) Able to change valency without changing its form; especially, able to be used both transitively and intransitively without changing its form.

Example Sentences

Pythagoras [said] that each thing or matter was ever gliding and labile.
Water ligands typically bind metals in a labile fashion and are rapidly interchanged in aqueous solution.
Certain drugs can be conjugated to polymer molecules with a linkage that is labile at low pH to effect controlled release in a cellular endosome.

Synonyms for labile

Depending on context, synonyms include adaptable.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include adaptable, fragile, component, volatile, evolutionarily, enterotoxin.

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Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.