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• x-ray crystallography
  x-ray crystallography

  noun

  the determination of the structure of a crystal by the use of x-ray diffraction.
• X-ray crystallography
  X-ray crystallography

  noun

  the study and practice of determining the structure of a crystal by passing a beam of X-rays through it and observing and analysing the diffraction pattern produced

x-ray crystallography

American  

noun

Crystallography.

1. the determination of the structure of a crystal by the use of x-ray diffraction.

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X-ray crystallography British  

noun

1. the study and practice of determining the structure of a crystal by passing a beam of X-rays through it and observing and analysing the diffraction pattern produced

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x-ray crystallography Scientific  

1. The study of molecular structure by examining diffraction patterns made by x-rays beamed through a crystalline form of the molecules. X-ray crystallography is used extensively in biochemistry to examine the molecular structure of such molecules as proteins and DNA.

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Etymology

Origin of x-ray crystallography

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

With this protection, the carbene becomes stable enough for detailed analysis using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and x-ray crystallography, offering clear evidence that such molecules can exist in water.

From Science Daily • Apr. 11, 2026

Researchers then accessed physical models of the two proteins that were produced using complex microscopy and x-ray crystallography techniques.

From Science Daily • May 16, 2024

But Yanik does think the approach will be useful—especially given its relative affordability compared with other ways of monitoring proteins, such as x-ray crystallography.

From Scientific American • Apr. 25, 2022

It even excelled at solving structures of proteins that sit wedged in cell membranes, which are central to many human diseases but notoriously difficult to solve with x-ray crystallography.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 30, 2020

This process is known as x-ray crystallography because of the information it can yield about crystal structure, and it was the type of data Rosalind Franklin supplied to Watson and Crick for DNA.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015