ALL meanings of natural selection
nat·u·ral se·lec·tion
N n - noun natural selection Darwinist theory: survival of the fittest 1
- noun natural selection the process by which forms of life having traits that better enable them to adapt to specific environmental pressures, as predators, changes in climate, or competition for food or mates, will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers than others of their kind, thus ensuring the perpetuation of those favorable traits in succeeding generations. 1
- uncountable noun natural selection Natural selection is a process by which species of animals and plants that are best adapted to their environment survive and reproduce, while those that are less well adapted die out. 0
- noun natural selection a process resulting in the survival of those individuals from a population of animals or plants that are best adapted to the prevailing environmental conditions. The survivors tend to produce more offspring than those less well adapted, so that the characteristics of the population change over time, thus accounting for the process of evolution 0
- noun natural selection in evolution, the process by which those individuals (of a species) with characters that help them to become adapted to their specific environment tend to leave more progeny and transmit their characters, while those less able to become adapted tend to leave fewer progeny or die out, so that in the course of generations there is a progressive tendency in the species to a greater degree of adaptation 0