alkane

[al-keyn]

noun Chemistry.

any member of the alkane series.

Nearby words

Origin of alkane

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for 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

any saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon with the general formula C n H 2 n +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

Medicine definitions for alkane

alkane

[ăl′kān′]

n.

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

Science definitions for alkane

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.