hem·i·cel·lu·lose

[hem-i-sel-yuh-lohs]
noun
any of a group of gummy polysaccharides, intermediate in complexity between sugar and cellulose, that hydrolyze to monosaccharides more readily than cellulose.

Origin:
1890–95; hemi- + cellulose

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
hemicellulose (ˌhɛmɪˈsɛljʊˌləʊz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
any of a group of plant polysaccharides that occur chiefly in the cell wall

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Hemicellulose is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

hemicellulose hem·i·cel·lu·lose (hěm'ĭ-sěl'yə-lōs', -lōz')
n.
Any of several polysaccharides that are more complex than a sugar and less complex than cellulose and found in plant cell walls.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

hemicellulose

any of a group of complex carbohydrates that, with other carbohydrates (e.g., pectins), surround the cellulose fibres of plant cells. The most common hemicelluloses contain xylans (many molecules of the five-carbon sugar xylose linked together), a uronic acid (i.e., sugar acid), and arabinose (another five-carbon sugar). Hemicelluloses have no chemical relationship to cellulose.

Learn more about hemicellulose with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
However, the hemicellulose content decreased substantially as temperature
  increased.
Hemicellulose is a polysaccharide composed of a variety of sugars including
  xylose, arabinose, mannose.
Along with cellulose and hemicellulose, these feedstocks all contain a
  substance called lignin.
In plants, cellulose is protected by a sheath of lignin and hemicellulose.
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