Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

nucleotides

Cultural  
  1. The molecules that form the basic modular structure of the double helix of the DNA molecule. A nucleotide consists of three molecules — a sugar, a phosphate group, and a molecule called a base. If the double helix is a twisted ladder, the sugar and phosphates form the sides of the ladder and pairs of bases form the rungs. There are four different bases, usually abbreviated A, C, G, and T for adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine). The order of bases in DNA determines the genetic code.


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:

The Harvard team's chip successfully synthesized 64 different DNA sequences in parallel, each as long as 39 nucleotides, establishing a new milestone for the technology.

From Science Daily Jul. 9, 2026

If COMs were embedded in their building materials from the start, then these worlds may also contain the molecular ingredients needed for prebiotic chemistry, including the formation of amino acids and nucleotides.

From Science Daily Mar. 1, 2026

While they are not themselves components of living cells, they may represent early steps in the chain of reactions that eventually produce amino acids and nucleotides.

From Science Daily Feb. 12, 2026

DNA and RNA consist of chains of smaller units known as nucleotides, while proteins are built from amino acids.

From Science Daily Jan. 4, 2026

Human DNA is a ladder a billion nucleotides long.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training