side chain


nounChemistry.
  1. an open chain of atoms attached to an atom of a larger chain, or to a ring.

Origin of side chain

1
First recorded in 1900–05
  • Also called lateral chain.

Words Nearby side chain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use side chain in a sentence

  • The writer may be permitted to illustrate by a special case his reason for declining to accept Ehrlichs side-chain theory.

  • The formation of antibodies has even been explained on this basis by Weiggert and Ehrlich in their side-chain theory.

British Dictionary definitions for side chain

side chain

noun
  1. chem a group of atoms bound to an atom, usually a carbon, that forms part of a larger chain or ring in a molecule

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

Scientific definitions for side chain

side chain

[ sīd ]


  1. A chain or ring in an organic molecule that branches off from a central structure or from a part that is a point of reference.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.