trace element

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noun Biochemistry.

any element that is required in minute quantities for physiological functioning.

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Also called trace mineral.

Origin of trace element

First recorded in 1935–40

Words nearby trace element

trabs, Trabzon, tracasserie, trace, traceable, trace element, trace fossil, traceless, tracer, tracer bullet, traceried

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use trace element in a sentence

In addition to light and water, microbes will need nitrogen, phosphorus, and a variety of trace elements which would be shipped from Earth, the study says.
Microbes could help us make rocket fuel on Mars|Leto Sapunar|November 4, 2021|Popular-Science
The deepest, most remote parts of the ocean are so far removed from land that they receive very little terrestrial dust, and living organisms need a range of trace elements like iron in order to survive.
What Dust From Space Tells Us About Ourselves|Natalie Wolchover|February 4, 2021|Quanta Magazine
Throughout all the stories of loss and pain with the Chief, there was barely a trace of emotion.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Very bass-y house, if I was in my element and playing what I like to play.
Idris Elba on Eric Garner, ‘Mi Mandela,’ and Selling Weed to Dave Chappelle|Marlow Stern|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It may now be time for RSD to address the violent element within his own organization.
School Shooters Love This Pickup Artist Website|Brandy Zadrozny|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Almost all of our human activities leave a chemical trace in the water,” says Alm.
The Secret to Tracking Ebola, MERS, and Flu? Sewers|Wudan Yan|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Recently, when whistleblowers finally surfaced, the Home Office officials could find no trace of the dossier.
The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero|Clive Irving|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In chronic interstitial nephritis it is small—frequently no more than a trace.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
And now there was added to this devotion an element of indefinable anxiety which made its vigilance unceasing.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
That he might lose his head and 'introduce an element of sex' was conscience confessing that it had been already introduced.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
This element of symbolic indication will be found to run through the whole of childish drawing.
Children's Ways|James Sully
They speak of a certain Norumbega and give the names of cities and strongholds of which to-day no trace or even report remains.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various

British Dictionary definitions for trace element

trace element

noun

any of various chemical elements, such as iron, manganese, zinc, copper, and iodine, that occur in very small amounts in organisms and are essential for many physiological and biochemical processes

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

Medical definitions for trace element

trace element

[ trās ]

A chemical element required in minute quantities by an organism to maintain proper physical functioning.

A minute quantity or amount, as of a chemical compound.

Scientific definitions for trace element

trace element

[ trās ]

An element present in an organism in only very small amounts but essential for normal metabolism. Iodine and cobalt are trace elements required by humans.

trace element

Origin of trace element

Words nearby trace element

Words related to trace element

How to use trace element in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for trace element

Medical definitions for trace element

Scientific definitions for trace element