pepsin
Americannoun
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an enzyme, produced in the stomach, that in the presence of hydrochloric acid splits proteins into proteoses and peptones.
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a commercial form of this substance, obtained from the stomachs of hogs, used as a digestive, as a ferment in the manufacture of cheese, etc.
noun
Etymology
Origin of pepsin
1835–45; < Greek péps ( is ) digestion ( pep-, base of péptein to digest + -sis -sis ) + -in 2
Vocabulary lists containing pepsin
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.
Pepsin is converted to pepsinogen with the help of hydrochloric acid.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Pepsin breaks peptide bonds and cleaves proteins into smaller polypeptides; it also helps activate more pepsinogen, starting a positive feedback mechanism that generates more pepsin.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Pepsin cuts proteins into smaller polypeptides and their constituent amino acids.
From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013
Pepsin is a protein much like egg albumen.
From Time Magazine Archive
The principal cells are represented at C. Pepsin the important constituent of the gastric juice, has the power, in the presence of an acid, of dissolving the proteid food-stuffs.
From A Practical Physiology by Blaisdell, Albert F.
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.
