chemistry
Americannoun
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chemistries
plural
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the science that deals with the composition and properties of substances and various elementary forms of matter.
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chemical properties, reactions, phenomena, etc..
the chemistry of carbon.
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the interaction of one personality with another.
The chemistry between him and his boss was all wrong.
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sympathetic understanding; rapport.
the astonishing chemistry between the actors.
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any or all of the elements that make up something.
the chemistry of love.
noun
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the branch of physical science concerned with the composition, properties, and reactions of substances See also inorganic chemistry organic chemistry physical chemistry
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the composition, properties, and reactions of a particular substance
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the nature and effects of any complex phenomenon
the chemistry of humour
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informal a reaction, taken to be instinctual, between two persons
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The scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of the chemical elements and the compounds they form.
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The composition, structure, properties, and reactions of a substance.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chemistry
First recorded in 1590–1600; chemist + -ry; replacing earlier chymistry, chimistry
Explanation
Chemistry is the science that tells us what things and people are made of; for example, that water is really H2O, two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. Chemistry deals with chemicals and elements, the building blocks of our world. The periodic table, that table of all of earth's basic elements — iron, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. — comes from chemistry. Chemistry explains how atoms attract each other to become molecules. We also use the term to refer to people who are attracted to each other, either as colleagues, friends or romantic partners. Movie reviewers often say that that romantic leads have "great chemistry" — or not.
Vocabulary lists containing chemistry
English Words Derived from Arabic
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Chemistry - Introductory
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Chemistry - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
There have always been overeager people who, through either extreme wishful thinking or some quirk of brain chemistry, have come to believe that science fiction hides secret messages or covers up for real events.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
The findings suggested that Menin could influence cognition not only through inflammation, but also by helping maintain the chemistry that supports brain signaling.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
The younger Merck studied chemistry at Harvard and took over the family business after his father died in 1925.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Laercio Barbosa, a 70-year-old chemistry teacher who plans to vote for Lula, is worried.
From Barron's
Germany had dominated science in the early twentieth century: it had been the crucible of atomic physics, quantum mechanics, nuclear chemistry, physiology, and biochemistry.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
To compete, we have to move beyond lithium-based batteries to novel chemistries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
There are hundreds of steel chemistries processed dozens of ways to make products suitable for cars, cans, and buildings.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2025
Meanwhile, battery safety is improving all the time, with newer systems equipped with improved suppression systems and more fire-resistant battery chemistries.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025
Alien atmospheres can be very different from those in our solar system, Hörst said, adding that there are more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets with varying atmospheric chemistries.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 27, 2023
But compared with cows’ bodies, ours offer different immune defenses, lice, feces, and chemistries.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
