nucleotide
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nucleotide
First recorded in 1905–10; alteration of nucleoside
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Vocabulary lists containing nucleotide
Genetics - Middle School
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Genetics - High School
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Biochemistry
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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.
Before the next nucleotide can be attached, that blocking group must be removed through a process called deprotection, which is triggered by acidic conditions, or low pH, in water.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
This enables the essential information defining an organism’s core features—represented in the nucleotide sequences of DNA—to be passed down to its offspring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
Notably, the increase in activity was specific to increasing concentrations of ATP or histidine; no changes were observed in response to other nucleotide triphosphates or amino acids.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 18, 2024
DNA gripping was strongest when ATP was bound to the motor, weaker when ADP was attached, and weakest with no nucleotide bound at all.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2023
Since mutations are random nucleotide changes, most of them are harmful or lethal, coding into existence nonfunctional enzymes.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
