alkane

[al-keyn]

noun Chemistry.

any member of the alkane series.

Origin of alkane

First recorded in 1895–1900; alk(yl) + -ane

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for alkane

Historical Examples of alkane

Melt these together over a slow fire, mixing with them a little powder of alkane root to color it.
Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889
Barkham Burroughs

British Dictionary definitions for alkane

alkane

noun

1. any saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon with the general formula C n H 2 n +2
2. (as modifier)alkane series
Also called: paraffin

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

alkane in Medicine

alkane

[ăl′kān′]

Any of various saturated open-chain hydrocarbons having the general formula CnH2n+2, the most abundant of which is methane.

alkane in Science

alkane

[ăl′kān′]

Any of a group of hydrocarbons that have carbon atoms in chains linked by single bonds and that have the general formula CnH2n+2. Alkanes can be either gaseous, liquid, or solid. They occur naturally in petroleum and natural gas, and include methane, propane and butane. Also called paraffin♦ The group of alkanes as a whole is called the alkane series or the methane or paraffin series. Its first six members are methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, and hexane.