vital : Idioms & Phrases

• noun (biology) a hypothetical force (not physical or chemical) once thought by Henri Bergson to cause the evolution and development of organisms
  elan vital; life force; vitality.
  

WordNet

E*lec`tro-vi"tal adjective

Definitions

1. Derived from, or dependent upon, vital processes; -- said of certain electric currents supposed by some physiologists to circulate in the nerves of animals.

Webster 1913

• oxygen gas; so called because essential to animal life. Obs.

Webster 1913

• noun the maximum amount of air that can be exhaled after a maximum inhalation (usually tested with a spirometer); used to determine the condition of lung tissue
  

WordNet

• (Physiol.), the breathing capacity of the lungs; expressed by the number of cubic inches of air which can be forcibly exhaled after a full inspiration.

Webster 1913

• noun (biology) a hypothetical force (not physical or chemical) once thought by Henri Bergson to cause the evolution and development of organisms
  elan vital; life force; vitality.
  

WordNet

• . (Biol.) See under Force. The vital forces, according to Cope, are nerve force (neurism), growth force (bathmism), and thought force (phrenism), all under the direction and control of the vital principle. Apart from the phenomena of consciousness, vital actions no longer need to be considered as of a mysterious and unfathomable character, nor vital force as anything other than a form of physical energy derived from, and convertible into, other well-known forces of nature.

Webster 1913

• (Physiol.), those functions or actions of the body on which life is directly dependent, as the circulation of the blood, digestion, etc.

Webster 1913

• noun a bodily organ that is essential for life
  vitals.
  

WordNet

• noun a hypothetical force to which the functions and qualities peculiar to living things are sometimes ascribed
  life principle.
  

WordNet

• an immaterial force, to which the functions peculiar to living beings are ascribed.

Webster 1913

• noun sign of life; usually an indicator of a person's general physical condition
  
  • he was still alive but his vital signs were weak

WordNet

• noun data relating to births and deaths and health and diseases and marriages
  

WordNet

• statistics respecting the duration of life, and the circumstances affecting its duration.

Webster 1913

• . (Physiol.) See under Tripod.

Webster 1913

• (Bot.), a name for latex tubes, now disused. See Latex.

Webster 1913