double helix

American  

noun

Biochemistry, Genetics.

1. the spiral arrangement of the two complementary strands of DNA.

---

double helix British  

noun

1. biochem the form of the molecular structure of DNA, consisting of two helical polynucleotide chains linked by hydrogen bonds and coiled around the same axis

---

double helix Scientific  

1. The three-dimensional structure of double-stranded DNA, in which polymeric nucleotide strands whose complementary nitrogen bases are linked by hydrogen bonds form a helical configuration. The two DNA strands are oriented in opposite directions.

---

double helix Cultural  

1. The shape taken by the DNA molecule. A helix is a three-dimensional spiral, like the shape of a spring or the railing on a spiral staircase. A DNA molecule consists of two helixes intertwined.

---

Etymology

Origin of double helix

First recorded in 1953; term introduced by J.D. Watson and F.H.C. Crick

Example Sentences

You can look at friendship as a journey that is like a double helix: Sometimes you and a friend will be in sync financially or emotionally, and other times you’ll be out of alignment.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 28, 2026

Form and content, the visual and the physical, create art’s spellbinding double helix.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2025

Watson shared the Nobel in 1962 with Maurice Wilkins and Crick for the DNA's double helix structure discovery.

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2025

More than seven decades later, mathematician Robert Monjo believes he has discovered a similarly significant double helix — but this time not as the structure of human DNA, but as the structure of spacetime itself.

From Salon • Nov. 13, 2024

Each strand is used to generate a complementary version of itself, resulting in one double helix that splits into two double helices.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee