fight-or-flight

British

noun

(modifier) involving or relating to an involuntary response to stress in which the hormone adrenaline is secreted into the blood in readiness for physical action, such as fighting or running away

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Later they were used in battle, with British medics supplying World War II soldiers with a whiff of the substance that doctors say triggers the body’s “fight-or-flight” response.

From Los Angeles Times

That’s our fight-or-flight response at work, and it can cause a lot of problems in a relationship.

From The Wall Street Journal

Vd Roest was well aware that the man’s virtually generated image wasn’t real, but that didn’t stop a fight-or-flight response from kicking in upon seeing his face.

From Slate

For example, norepinephrine, a chemical involved in the body's "fight-or-flight" response, is often higher than normal in anxiety disorders.

From Science Daily

The researchers believe that the heightened fight-or-flight activity common in anxiety disorders may increase the brain's demand for choline, which could lower its available levels.

From Science Daily

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023