CATABOLISM

catabolism, or katabolism (gr. [greek: kata], down, [greek: bole], a throw), the biological term for the reverse of anabolism, namely the breaking down of complex into simpler substances, destructive metabolism (see physiology). cataclysm (gr. [greek: kataklusmos], a deluge), a great flood or deluge (q.v.). the term is used in geology to denote an overwhelming catastrophe which has produced sudden changes in the earth's surface; and also, figuratively, of any great and violent change which sweeps away the existing social or political order.