Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

carbohydrates

Cultural  

  1. Substances composed of long chains of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon molecules. Sugar, starch, and cellulose are all carbohydrates. In the human body, carbohydrates play a major role in respiration; in plants, they are important in photosynthesis.

Discover More

Carbohydrates in food provide energy for the body and, if present in excess, are stored as fat.

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.

It binds only to carbohydrates found on bacteria and other microbes.

From Science Daily • Mar. 16, 2026

Galactose also appears in carbohydrates displayed on the surface of some bacterial cells.

From Science Daily • Mar. 16, 2026

Tables that seemed to sag gently under the weight of carbohydrates.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

This approach includes carbohydrates from whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains instead of eliminating carbohydrates entirely.

From Science Daily • Mar. 9, 2026

Another major difference among agricultural systems involved the main sources of calories and carbohydrates.

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.