Biology — TOEFL Academic Vocabulary
Biology Five high-utility words with the full apparatus: pronunciation, both definitions, natural + academic examples, collocations, family, mistakes — then a 10-question set quiz.
species /ˈspiʃiz/ noun B2
Meaning: A group of living things that are the same kind and can produce babies together.
Academic meaning: The basic unit of biological classification: a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring under natural conditions.
Natural example: This species of frog is found only in one forest.
Academic example: The island is home to several species that exist nowhere else on Earth.
Collocations: endangered species · a species of · native species
Synonyms: kind, type, variety
Word family: species (noun, singular and plural) · specific (adjective) · speciation (noun)
⚠ Common mistake: 'Species' has the same form in singular and plural: 'one species is', 'two species are'. Never write 'specie' for a living thing — that word relates to coins.
Register: neutral; the standard term in biology · Usage: Always write 'a species of bird/fish/plant' when naming the group, and keep the plural verb with plural meaning.
survive /sərˈvaɪv/ verb B1
Meaning: To continue to live, especially after danger or difficulty.
Academic meaning: To remain alive and functional under adverse environmental conditions, a requirement for natural selection to act on a population.
Natural example: Few plants can survive in the desert without water.
Academic example: Only the individuals best adapted to the cold were able to survive the winter.
Collocations: survive in · survive on · barely survive
Synonyms: live, endure, withstand
Antonyms: die, perish
Word family: survival (noun) · survivor (noun) · surviving (adjective)
⚠ Common mistake: 'Survive' does not need 'from': say 'survive the winter', not 'survive from the winter'.
Register: neutral; common in biology and general academic writing · Usage: Use 'survive on' for the food or resources an organism lives on: 'They survive on insects.'
grow /ɡroʊ/ verb B1
Meaning: To become bigger or taller; to increase.
Academic meaning: To increase in size, mass, or number through cell division and development in living organisms.
Natural example: Children grow quickly in their first years.
Academic example: Under these conditions, the bacteria grow twice as fast as normal.
Collocations: grow in size · grow rapidly · grow from a seed
Synonyms: increase, develop, expand
Antonyms: shrink, decline
Word family: growth (noun) · growing (adjective) · grown (adjective)
⚠ Common mistake: The past tense is 'grew' and the past participle is 'grown': 'The plant has grown', not 'has grew'.
Register: neutral; academic in biology and economics · Usage: 'Grow' is intransitive for living things developing ('plants grow'); use 'grow something' only when someone cultivates it ('farmers grow corn').
cell /sɛl/ noun B1
Meaning: The smallest basic unit of a living thing.
Academic meaning: The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism, bounded by a membrane and containing the material of life.
Natural example: Your body is made of millions of tiny cells.
Academic example: Under the microscope, the damaged cells appeared smaller than healthy ones.
Collocations: blood cell · cell division · a single cell
Synonyms: unit, building block, compartment
Word family: cellular (adjective) · cellulose (noun)
⚠ Common mistake: In biology, 'cell' means the unit of life; do not confuse it with a phone or a prison room in scientific writing.
Register: neutral; the foundational term in biology · Usage: Use 'cell' with its type for precision: 'muscle cells', 'plant cells', 'stem cells'.
adapt /əˈdæpt/ verb B2
Meaning: To change in order to fit a new situation or environment.
Academic meaning: To undergo or make heritable changes that improve an organism's fitness in a particular environment over generations; also, to adjust behavior to new conditions.
Natural example: It took me a few weeks to adapt to the new job.
Academic example: Over thousands of years, the fish adapted to life in total darkness.
Collocations: adapt to · adapt well to · highly adapted
Synonyms: adjust, acclimate, evolve
Antonyms: resist, remain unchanged
Word family: adaptation (noun) · adaptable (adjective) · adaptive (adjective)
⚠ Common mistake: Always use 'to' after 'adapt' for the new condition: 'adapt to the climate', not 'adapt the climate' (that means to modify something for a purpose).
Register: neutral; central term in evolutionary biology · Usage: In strict biology, populations adapt over generations through selection; an individual animal adjusts or acclimates within its lifetime.