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amino acid
5 dictionary results for: Amino acid
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
amino acid
–noun Biochemistry.
| any of a class of organic compounds that contains at least one amino group, –NH2, and one carboxyl group, –COOH: the alpha-amino acids, RCH(NH2)COOH, are the building blocks from which proteins are constructed. |
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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| amino acid
n. An organic compound containing an amino group (NH2), a carboxylic acid group (COOH), and any of various side groups, especially any of the 20 compounds that have the basic formula NH2CHRCOOH, and that link together by peptide bonds to form proteins or that function as chemical messengers and as intermediates in metabolism. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| amino acid | |
noun | |
| organic compounds containing an amino group and a carboxylic acid group; "proteins are composed of various proportions of about 20 common amino acids" |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| amino acid
Any of a large number of compounds found in living cells that contain carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, and join together to form proteins. Amino acids contain a basic amino group (NH2) and an acidic carboxyl group (COOH), both attached to the same carbon atom. Since the carboxyl group has a proton available for binding with the electrons of another atom, and the amino group has electrons available for binding with a proton from another atom, the amino acid behaves as an acid and a base simultaneously. Twenty of the naturally occurring amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which they form by being connected to each other in chains. Eight of those twenty, called essential amino acids, cannot be synthesized in the cells of humans and must be consumed as part of the diet. The remaining twelve are nonessential amino acids.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
amino acid n.
Abbr. AA
Any of various organic acids containing both an amino group and a carboxyl group, especially any of the 20 or more compounds that link together to form proteins.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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