enzyme
any of various proteins, as pepsin, originating from living cells and capable of producing certain chemical changes in organic substances by catalytic action, as in digestion.
Origin of enzyme
1- Compare -ase.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use enzyme in a sentence
Even the brief time spent chewing exposes foods to enzymes that begin to break it down.
‘Rectal Feeding’ Has Nothing to Do with Nutrition, Everything to Do with Torture | Russell Saunders | December 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSupporters of raw milk claim it provides good bacteria and enzymes.
The Raw Milk Movement Is Gaining Traction, but the Dangers Far Outweigh Benefits | Russell Saunders | April 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDigestech—We have different enzymes to help us digest fats, carbs, and protein.
These Are The 15 Supplements to Keep In Your Medicine Cabinet | Ari Meisel | December 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe stalks are then laid out to dry for a few days while the enzymes within the cane convert starches to sugar.
The enzymes in the fluids secreted by the latter change the foods from a solid form (usually insoluble) to that of a fluid.
A Civic Biology | George William Hunter
Enzymes are very sensitive to changes in temperature and to the degree of acidity or alkalinity of the material in which they act.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterCertain substances, called enzymes, formed by glands cause the digestion of food.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterIt also contains two very important enzymes, one called pepsin, and another less important one called rennin.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterEmulsine, or Synaptase, originally the name given to the mixture of enzymes in bitter and sweet almonds.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia | Various
British Dictionary definitions for enzyme
/ (ˈɛnzaɪm) /
any of a group of complex proteins or conjugated proteins that are produced by living cells and act as catalysts in specific biochemical reactions
Origin of enzyme
1Derived forms of enzyme
- enzymatic (ˌɛnzaɪˈmætɪk, -zɪ-) or enzymic (ɛnˈzaɪmɪk, -ˈzɪm-), adjective
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
Scientific definitions for enzyme
[ ĕn′zīm ]
Any of numerous proteins produced in living cells that accelerate or catalyze the metabolic processes of an organism. Enzymes are usually very selective in the molecules that they act upon, called substrates, often reacting with only a single substrate. The substrate binds to the enzyme at a location called the active site just before the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme takes place. Enzymes can speed up chemical reactions by up to a millionfold, but only function within a narrow temperature and pH range, outside of which they can lose their structure and become denatured. Enzymes are involved in such processes as the breaking down of the large protein, starch, and fat molecules in food into smaller molecules during digestion, the joining together of nucleotides into strands of DNA, and the addition of a phosphate group to ADP to form ATP. The names of enzymes usually end in the suffix -ase.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for enzyme
[ (en-zeyem) ]
A protein molecule that helps other organic molecules (see also organic molecule) enter into chemical reactions with one another but is itself unaffected by these reactions. In other words, enzymes act as catalysts for organic biochemical reactions.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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