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Synonyms

xylose

American  
[zahy-lohs] / ˈzaɪ loʊs /

noun

Chemistry.

  1. a colorless, crystalline pentose sugar, C 5 H 10 O 5 , derived from xylan, straw, corncobs, etc., by treating with heated dilute sulfuric acid, and dehydrating to furfural if stronger acid is used.

xylose British  
/ ˈzaɪləʊz, -ləʊs /

noun

  1. a white crystalline dextrorotatory sugar found in the form of xylan in wood and straw. It is extracted by hydrolysis with acids and used in dyeing, tanning, and in foods for diabetics. Formula: C 5 H 10 O 5

"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
xylose Scientific  
/ zī′lōs′ /

  1. A white crystalline sugar extracted from wood, straw, and corn. It is used in dyeing and tanning and as a substitute for sucrose in diabetic diets. Chemical formula: C 5 H 10 O 5 .

Etymology

Origin of xylose

1890–95; < Greek xýl ( on ) wood + -ose 2

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.

The swashing effect begins when bacteria consume fermentable sugars such as glucose, maltose, or xylose.

From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2026

In the wild, the yeast strain of interest, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, prefers glucose and lacks the ability to metabolize xylose.

From Science Daily • Feb. 5, 2024

The researchers steadily decreased the amount of xylose available to the microbes as well.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 27, 2019

Work remains to be done to fill in the gaps in explaining how xylose isomerase affects the level of trehalose in the fruit fly and the activity of octopamine-producing neurons in the brain.

From Nature • Oct. 23, 2018

The wound gums, for example, yield arabinose, and the wood gums yield xylose.

From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Thatcher, Roscoe Wilfred

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.