carboxylic acid

American

noun

Chemistry.

any organic acid containing one or more carboxyl groups.

carboxylic acid British

/ ˌkɑːbɒkˈsɪlɪk /

noun

any of a class of organic acids containing the carboxyl group See also fatty acid

"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

carboxylic acid Scientific

/ kär′bŏk-sĭl′ĭk /

An organic acid containing one or more carboxyl groups. Carboxylic acids often have names ending in –oic acid, such as benzoic acid. Amino acids, fatty acids, and many other important organic compounds are carboxylic acids.

Etymology

Origin of carboxylic acid

First recorded in 1900–05; carboxyl + -ic

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:

carboxylic acid

Others included a carboxylic acid moiety or a methyl ester side chain.

From Science Daily ● May 27, 2026

They also tweaked a carboxylic acid group at the bottom of the molecule, speeding up how quickly the antifungal removed ergosterols.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 8, 2023

All humans produce carboxylic acid through sebum, a waxy coating, on their skin.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 18, 2022

You’ll recognize them from the labels of your beloved beauty products: glycerin, lactic acid, amino acids, urea, and sodium pyrrolidone carboxylic acid.

From Slate ● Jan. 12, 2022

Conine, on oxidation, yields chiefly butyric acid, but among the products of oxidation has been found the pyridine carboxylic acid before referred to.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 415, December 15, 1883 by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023