How to Use fight-or-flight in a Sentence
fight-or-flight
adjective-
When you’re stressed, your body gets ready to enter fight-or-flight mode.
— Addison Aloian, Women's Health, 21 Apr. 2023 -
Snapped out of modern-day fight-or-flight mode, I was primed for smoother sleep despite the jet lag.
— Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 Mar. 2024 -
The panic attack fight-or-flight response is well-known to me.
— Alice Bradley, Health, 9 Mar. 2023 -
If fight-or-flight fails, the instinct to feign death kicks in as an attempt to forestall the danger.
— Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 14 May 2024 -
Long-term stress can mean our fight-or-flight response does its thing on a hair trigger.
— Eleanor Morgan, refinery29.com, 12 Apr. 2023 -
This is the hormone that triggers the fight-or-flight response which helps the body better cope with real or perceived threats.
— James Myhre & Dennis Sifris, Md, Verywell Health, 3 Sep. 2024 -
Stress can also slow digestion because when you're stressed, the body's fight-or-flight response kicks in.
— Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 9 Aug. 2023 -
Those alarms trigger the grownup’s fight-or-flight response and raise the odds that adult and child will enter a co-escalation cycle of doom.
— Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2024 -
Even normal stuff, like a bus backfiring or a balloon popping, can send her into fight-or-flight mode.
— Amelia Harnish, Women's Health, 5 June 2023 -
The sympathetic nervous system is part of your body's fight-or-flight response.
— Cathy Cassata, Health, 29 July 2023 -
Since fight-or-flight mode can cause your thoughts to race, grounding techniques can help your mind and body connect with the present moment and reset, Dr. Albers-Bowling says.
— Maggie O'Neill, SELF, 31 Mar. 2023 -
When this occurs, your body triggers a fight-or-flight response that involves a boost of adrenaline and an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
— Anna Giorgi, Verywell Health, 29 July 2024 -
This can trigger the sympathetic nervous system and send your body into fight-or-flight mode.
— Maggie O'Neill, SELF, 31 Mar. 2023 -
The technique involves tensing and releasing different body parts, which helps quell stress by forcing your body out of fight-or-flight mode.
— Alice Oglethorpe, SELF, 10 May 2024 -
Could this be a pheochromocytoma — a usually benign tumor that causes the adrenal glands to produce too much of the fight-or-flight hormones?
— Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 9 Mar. 2023 -
That particular sequence provides a good early test of your fight-or-flight instincts.
— Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2023 -
The booming sounds can be perceived as a threat and trigger dogs' fight-or-flight response, according to Veterinary Specialists of the Rockies.
— Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 3 July 2023 -
Naturally, some people will go to great lengths to avoid triggering such fight-or-flight (or freeze) responses.
— Alex Orlando, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023 -
The harmonies of the forest resonate deeply within us, soothing our fight-or-flight instincts, melting away stress and guiding us toward serenity.
— Gen Cleary, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2023 -
His body was still in fight-or-flight mode, overwhelmed by the incomprehensible explosion.
— The Arizona Republic, 14 Jan. 2024 -
Phobias exists on the extreme tail-end of fear, manifesting as absolute, fight-or-flight horror.
— Manasee Wagh, Popular Mechanics, 2 Mar. 2023 -
For some budding musicians (and even old pros), the very sight of sheet music can elicit a fight-or-flight response, bringing up painful memories of strict piano teachers and high-pressure recitals.
— Tristan Geary, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024 -
Things escalate when a starving Samuel and Nolan are confronted with a tense fight-or-flight catalyst involving the family dog.
— Courtney Howard, Variety, 17 Sep. 2024 -
Hoping that helped explain some of Camilleri's symptoms, Verma prescribed some heart medicines that dilate blood vessels and others to dampen that fight-or-flight response.
— Lauran Neergaard The Associated Pres, Arkansas Online, 17 Aug. 2023 -
Booming sounds can be trigger dogs' fight-or-flight response, according to Veterinary Specialists of the Rockies.
— Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 4 July 2024 -
Our cognitive system responds to pressures with a process called allostasis, which senses threats to our well-being and fires off fight-or-flight responses to disarm them.
— Gabriela Riccardi, Quartz, 21 Apr. 2023 -
When an emergency happens, you’re propelled instantly to that fight-or-flight zone, which involves clarity of thinking.
— Jen Chaney, Vulture, 2 Apr. 2024 -
It is released by the body's adrenal glands and triggers the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which controls the body's natural fight-or-flight response to physical stressors and dangers.
— Laura Schober, Health, 11 July 2024 -
Together, these two stress hormones (and some neurotransmitters) coordinate to optimize the flow of blood sugar to the brain, and, in turn, carry out the fight-or-flight mechanics in the physical body.
— Tree Meinch, Discover Magazine, 13 Feb. 2023 -
Excessive noise — even generally — is disruptive to the health and well-being of children, research shows, and medical experts say the sound of gunfire, which could elicit a fight-or-flight response, may be even worse.
— Emily Baumgaertner, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2023
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fight-or-flight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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