noun
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Etymology
Origin of biochemistry
Explanation
Biochemistry is the field of science that explores the molecules and processes that occur in living things. The term biochemistry comes from adding bio-, or "life," to chemistry, which is the science that deals with the composition, structures, and properties of substances, along with the reactions and transformations they undergo in combination. Looking at the human body through the lens of biochemistry can help us understand processes like digestion and nutrition. Proteins, carbohydrates, and other nutrients are all chemicals — and it's thanks to biochemical reactions that your body's cells are able to absorb glucose and create energy to keep you going.
Vocabulary lists containing biochemistry
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.
See Examples For:
When liquid MMA is exposed to heat or light, it will start a chain reaction, said Elaine Villanueva Bernal, a lecturer at Cal State Long Beach’s department of chemistry and biochemistry.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
For Wallace Bulimo, biochemistry professor at Kenya's University of Nairobi, events in DR Congo underscore the need for more investment.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Quantum has the potential to move the needle on research in national security, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals and finance — areas, Newman explained, where outcomes can be “infinitely complex.”
From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026
Barry Edwards, an associate professor of biochemistry in the School of Medicine, recently designed a very small antibody that seeks out EphA2, a protein frequently present in cancer tumors.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026
I wanted to give up conventional biochemistry, which I believed incapable of telling us how genes work.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
The pests are also attracted to other bodily emissions, such as sweat and heat, he said, in addition to individual biochemistries.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 28, 2021
When you share a smile or laugh with someone face to face, a discernible synchrony emerges between you, as your gestures and biochemistries, even your respective neural firings, come to mirror each other.
From Forbes ● Apr. 25, 2013
By 2004, he was wondering whether life could have originated on our planet more than once, with each lineage based on utterly different biochemistries, perhaps even without DNA or RNA.
From Nature ● Jun. 1, 2011
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.
