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Synonyms

polysaccharide

American  
[pol-ee-sak-uh-rahyd, -rid] / ˌpɒl iˈsæk əˌraɪd, -rɪd /
Also polysaccharose

noun

Chemistry.

  1. a carbohydrate, as starch, inulin, or cellulose, containing more than three monosaccharide units per molecule, the units being attached to each other in the manner of acetals, and therefore capable of hydrolysis by acids or enzymes to monosaccharides.

polysaccharide British  
/ -ˌrəʊs, -rɪd, ˌpɒlɪˈsækəˌrəʊz, ˌpɒlɪˈsækəˌraɪd /

noun

  1. any one of a class of carbohydrates whose molecules contain linked monosaccharide units: includes starch, inulin, and cellulose. General formula: (C 6 H 10 O 5 ) n See also oligosaccharide

"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
polysaccharide Scientific  
/ pŏl′ē-săk′ə-rīd′ /

  1. Any of a class of carbohydrates that are made of long chains of simple carbohydrates (called monosaccharides). Starch and cellulose are polysaccharides.

  2. Compare monosaccharide oligosaccharide

Etymology

Origin of polysaccharide

First recorded in 1890–95; poly- + saccharide

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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.

He sometimes recommends polysaccharide extract from turkey tail as a supplement for selected patients.

From National Geographic • Jan. 31, 2024

The process also activates pectin, an acidic polysaccharide present in many fruits that sets the jam into a spreadable gel.

From Salon • Dec. 6, 2023

The research team established that the degradation of the polysaccharide chitin plays a central role for the initial colonisers in particular.

From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2023

Other genes worth targeting would be those controlling chitin, the hard polysaccharide that makes up insects’ exoskeleton.

From Scientific American • Aug. 28, 2023

Each individual polysaccharide which has been studied thus far yields only a single hexose, although the particular hexose obtained varies in different cases.

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.