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straight-chain

American  
[streyt-cheyn] / ˈstreɪtˈtʃeɪn /

noun

Chemistry.

  1. an open chain of atoms, usually carbon, with no side chains attached to it.

straight chain British  

noun

  1. Compare branched chain

    1. an open chain of atoms in a molecule with no attached side chains

    2. ( as modifier )

      a straight-chain hydrocarbon
"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
straight chain Scientific  

  1. An arrangement of atoms of the same type that forms an unbranched open chain. Propane is a straight-chain compound with a chain of three carbon atoms.

Etymology

Origin of straight-chain

First recorded in 1925–30

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.