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ninhydrin

American  
[nin-hahy-drin] / nɪnˈhaɪ drɪn /

noun

Chemistry.

  1. a white or yellow, toxic, crystalline or powdery compound, C 9 H 4 O 3 ⋅H 2 O, that reddens when heated above 100°C, a monohydrate, soluble in water or alcohol: used primarily as a reagent to detect the presence of various amino acids.

ninhydrin British  
/ nɪnˈhaɪdrɪn /

noun

  1. a chemical reagent used for the detection and analysis of primary amines, esp amino acids, with which it forms a derivative with an intense purple colour

"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

Etymology

Origin of ninhydrin

From German, registered as a trademark for the drug in 1912

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.

We used a chemical called ninhydrin to chop off and isolate the carbon atom we wanted from each amino acid.

From Salon • Sep. 5, 2023

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.