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triphosphate

American  
[trahy-fos-feyt] / traɪˈfɒs feɪt /

noun

Chemistry.
  1. a salt derived from triphosphoric acid.


Etymology

Origin of triphosphate

First recorded in 1820–30; tri- + phosphate

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.

One important process is ATP hydrolysis, which is how cells break down adenosine triphosphate to release energy.

From Science Daily • Dec. 16, 2025

The body stores and burns energy by perpetually making and breaking the phosphate bonds found in the cell’s little cash machines, its adenosine triphosphate molecules, better known as ATP.

From New York Times • Nov. 4, 2022

Adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, is the primary energy currency in cells; ATP stores energy in phosphate ester bonds.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Although it’s not yet clear just what scientists will do with this 26-atom rotary motor, a larger biological analog uses rotational motion to generate adenosine triphosphate, the fuel used by cells to do work.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 5, 2022

In particular, he found that four triphosphate components and a small amount of the end product as a “template” had to be present for the enzymatic synthesis.

From History of Phosphorus by Farber, Eduard