Lysing

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. The process of breaking down cells and releasing their contents
2. The act of chemically or physically disrupting a cell membrane to produce cell lysis
3. The phenomenon where cells are destroyed or dissolved, often by the action of a virus or enzyme

Etymology: "Lysing" is the present participle and gerund of "lyse," a verb meaning to break open cells, typically by disrupting their membrane. The verb itself is a back-formation from "lysis," a word that comes from the Greek "lysis," meaning "loosening" or "release," from "lyein," "to loosen or untie." Greek "lysis" was a general term for dissolving or setting free, which explains why the same root turns up in words for ending a disease, a dispute or a bond. The verb arose because "lysis" was already familiar to scientists as a noun describing cell destruction. Speakers then created "lyse" by stripping off the noun's ending, a process that produces verbs out of nouns when people need an action word for a concept they already name. From that base, "lysing" follows the regular English pattern for forming the present participle and gerund by adding "-ing" to the verb.

Synonyms: breaking down, dissolving, rupturing

Antonyms: building, forming, assembling