hydrolysis
chemical decomposition in which a compound is split into other compounds by reacting with water.
Origin of hydrolysis
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use hydrolysis in a sentence
This compound combines with hydrocyanic acid to form a nitrile which hydrolyses to dichlor-hydroxy iso-butyric acid.
Jalapin or scammonin, C34H56O16, occurs in scammony; it hydrolyses to glucose and jalapinolic acid.
British Dictionary definitions for hydrolysis
/ (haɪˈdrɒlɪsɪs) /
a chemical reaction in which a compound reacts with water to produce other compounds
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
Scientific definitions for hydrolysis
[ hī-drŏl′ĭ-sĭs ]
The reaction of water with another chemical compound to form two or more products, involving the ionization of the water molecule and usually splitting the other compound. The proteins, fats, and complex carbohydrates in food are broken down in the body by hydrolysis that is catalyzed by enzymes in the digestive tract.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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