hormone

3 definitions found

hormone - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Hormone \Hor"mone\ (h[^o]r"m[=o]n), n. [From Gr. "orma`ein to
     excite.]
     1. (Physiological Chem.) A chemical substance formed in one
        organ and carried in the circulation to another organ on
        which it exerts a specific effect on cells at a distance
        from the producing cells; thus, pituitary hormones
        produced in the brain may have effects on cells in distant
        parts of the body..
        [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
  
     2. (Physiological Chem.) a chemical substance, whether
        natural or synthetic, that functions like a hormone in a
        living organism. Thus, synthetic steroid hormones may be
        more effective than their natural counterparts.
        [PJC]
  
     3. (Bot.) A substance that controls growth rate or
        differentiation in plants; also called phytohormone. The
        most well-known are the auxins that stimulate growth at
        the growing tips of plants, and control root formation and
        the dropping of leaves; and the gibberellins, which are
        used in agriculture to promote plant growth.
        [PJC]

hormone - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  hormone
      n 1: the secretion of an endocrine gland that is transmitted by
           the blood to the tissue on which it has a specific effect
           [syn: hormone, endocrine, internal secretion]

hormone - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  35 Moby Thesaurus words for "hormone":
     Allen-Doisy hormone, adjuvant, adrenosterone, androgen,
     androsterone, autacoid, bile, carminative, chalone,
     cholecystokinin, chondrotrophic hormone, corticosterone,
     counterirritant, dehydrocorticosterone, digestive secretion,
     emmenagogue, endocrine, expectorant, gall, gastric juice, insulin,
     intestinal juice, maturative, mucus, pancreatic juice,
     progesterone, prostatic fluid, rheum, salivary secretion, semen,
     sperm, tears, thyroxin, vasodilator, vitamin