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pentosan

American  
[pen-tuh-san] / ˈpɛn təˌsæn /

noun

Biochemistry.

  1. any of a class of polysaccharides that occur in plants, humus, etc., and form pentoses upon hydrolysis.

pentosan British  
/ ˈpɛntəˌsæn /

noun

  1. biochem any of a group of polysaccharides, having the general formula (C 5 H 8 O 4 ) n : occur in plants, humus, etc

"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 pentosan

< German (1892), equivalent to Pentos ( e ) pentose + -an -ane

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.

The lignin material generally consists of two types of substances, one of which contains a closed-ring nucleus of unknown composition and the other is probably a pentosan.

From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Thatcher, Roscoe Wilfred

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.