polysaccharide
Americannoun
noun
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Any of a class of carbohydrates that are made of long chains of simple carbohydrates (called monosaccharides). Starch and cellulose are polysaccharides.
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Compare monosaccharide oligosaccharide
Etymology
Origin of polysaccharide
First recorded in 1890–95; poly- + saccharide
Compare meaning
How does polysaccharide compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Vocabulary lists containing polysaccharide
Biochemistry
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Nutrition and Digestion - High School
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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
These substances constitute a group of compounds which are very similar to the polysaccharide carbohydrates in composition and constitution, but which serve entirely different purposes in the plant.
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.
