sex chromosome

[ seks-kroh-muh-sohm ]
See synonyms for sex chromosome on Thesaurus.com
nounGenetics.
  1. a chromosome, differing in shape or function from other chromosomes, that determines the sex of an individual.

Origin of sex chromosome

1
First recorded in 1910–15

Words Nearby sex chromosome

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sex chromosome in a sentence

  • All the eggs contain what is known as the "X" type of sex chromosome.

    Taboo and Genetics | Melvin Moses Knight, Iva Lowther Peters, and Phyllis Mary Blanchard
  • This has included sex phenomena since McClung and Sutton pointed out the function of the sex chromosome in 1902 and 1903.

    Taboo and Genetics | Melvin Moses Knight, Iva Lowther Peters, and Phyllis Mary Blanchard
  • The single-sex chromosome which males possess invariably comes from the mother.

    Physiology | Ernest G. Martin

British Dictionary definitions for sex chromosome

sex chromosome

noun
  1. either of the chromosomes determining the sex of animals: See also X-chromosome, Y-chromosome

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

Scientific definitions for sex chromosome

sex chromosome

  1. Either of a pair of chromosomes, usually called X and Y, that in combination determine the sex of an individual in many animals and in some plants. In mammals, XX results in a female and XY in a male, while the opposite is true in birds (where the designations ZW for female and ZZ for male are often used). Sex chromosomes carry the genes that control the development of reproductive organs and secondary sex characteristics. In some organisms, sex is determined by environmental influences. See also X-chromosome Y-chromosome.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.