sex chromosomes
CulturalDiscover More
As with other pairs of chromosomes, one of the sex chromosomes is contributed by each parent; they are of two types, X and Y. The mother supplies only an X-chromosome, but the father can transmit both the X- and the Y-chromosome. At fertilization, if the father's sperm is also carrying an X-chromosome, the child will be female. If the father's sperm is carrying a Y-chromosome, the child will be male.
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.
Female birds have two different sex chromosomes, designated W and Z, while males have two Z chromosomes.
From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2024
They screen for chromosomal disorders such as trisomy 13 and 18, which often end in miscarriage or stillbirth, Down syndrome and extra or missing copies of sex chromosomes.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 12, 2024
A stud published this week in the journal Cell says it might boil down to the most fundamental difference between biological men and women: the difference in sex chromosomes.
From Salon • Feb. 2, 2024
The team at the Crick developed a computational method which aims to pick up more variation in sex chromosomes.
From Science Daily • Jan. 11, 2024
One, known only as Klinefelter’s syndrome, involves a duplication of one of the sex chromosomes.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
