molecule
Chemistry, Physics. the smallest physical unit of an element or compound, consisting of one or more like atoms in an element and two or more different atoms in a compound.
Chemistry. a quantity of a substance, the weight of which, measured in any chosen unit, is numerically equal to the molecular weight; gram molecule.
any very small particle.
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Origin of molecule
1Other words from molecule
- sub·mol·e·cule, noun
- su·per·mol·e·cule, noun
Words Nearby molecule
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use molecule in a sentence
Perhaps certain gene networks and signaling molecules act as individuals at the level of the cell, while others are spread out between cells.
What Is an Individual? Biology Seeks Clues in Information Theory. | Jordana Cepelewicz | July 16, 2020 | Quanta MagazineStrikingly, if the flies are fed antioxidants that neutralize these molecules, it does not matter if they never sleep again.
They might perfume the air by releasing small molecules that smell like a whiff of strawberries, perhaps.
This ‘living’ concrete slurps up a greenhouse gas | Carolyn Wilke | May 6, 2020 | Science News For StudentsAs water heats up, individual water molecules move faster and faster.
Rock Candy Science 2: No such thing as too much sugar | Bethany Brookshire | April 30, 2020 | Science News For StudentsIons — molecules that have a charge — move between these electrodes in a material called an electrolyte.
Each type of atom and molecule has its own unique spectrum, according to the rules of quantum mechanics.
Specifically, it targets a molecule called VEGF that sends signals that promote the growth of blood vessels.
And those examples are a molecule in the atom bomb of the Internet.
Every fructose molecule in sucrose, in contrast, is bound to a glucose.
A molecule of carbon dioxide traps heat, radiant heat, the long wave end of the spectrum.
Hanging Out with Ian McEwan: Full Transcript | The Daily Beast Video | April 14, 2010 | THE DAILY BEASTPete, after spewing the last hateful molecule away, reversed his tiny fibre engines, and began to draw in.
Old Friends Are the Best | Jack SharkeyDoes not the soul which animates us endure by the same right as each molecule of oxygen or nitrogen or iron?
Urania | Camille FlammarionThe foreign protein is changed by splitting its molecule into its simplest parts and then recombining them in the desired form.
The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick LaidlawEach molecule of silver chromate forms two silver ions when it is ionized.
The Elements of Qualitative Chemical Analysis, vol. 1, parts 1 and 2. | Julius StieglitzThis brings selenophene more akin to pyrrole than thiophene, but the group -NH- in the molecule of pyrrole is an auxochrome.
British Dictionary definitions for molecule
/ (ˈmɒlɪˌkjuːl) /
the simplest unit of a chemical compound that can exist, consisting of two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds
a very small particle
Origin of molecule
1Collins 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 molecule
[ mŏl′ĭ-kyōōl′ ]
A group of two or more atoms linked together by sharing electrons in a chemical bond. Molecules are the fundamental components of chemical compounds and are the smallest part of a compound that can participate in a chemical reaction.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for molecule
[ (mol-uh-kyoohl) ]
A combination of two or more atoms held together by a force between them. (See covalent bond and ionic bond.)
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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