Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

peptidoglycan

American  
[pep-tuh-doh-glahy-kan] / ˌpɛp tə doʊˈglaɪˌkæn /

noun

  • peptidoglycans
    plural
  1. a polymer found in the cell walls of bacteria, composed of glycans and peptide chains.


Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

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:

Breaking out requires getting through the peptidoglycan layer.

From Science Daily Feb. 28, 2026

Clemons explains, "Getting back out means that they have to get past the peptidoglycan layer. Because it acts like chainmail, the phages get stuck if they can't break through it."

From Science Daily Feb. 28, 2026

It transports peptidoglycan precursors from the inside of the cell across the membrane so they can be incorporated into the growing cell wall.

From Science Daily Feb. 28, 2026

The cell wall is a thick layer of peptidoglycan that exists outside the plasma membrane.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2015

Gram-negative bacteria have a cell wall made of peptidoglycan, while Gram-positive bacteria have a cell wall made of phospholipids.

From Textbooks Apr. 25, 2013

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

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

Start training