X chromosome


nounGenetics.
  1. a sex chromosome of humans and most mammals that determines femaleness when paired with another X chromosome and that occurs singly in males.

Origin of X chromosome

1
First recorded in 1910–15

Words Nearby X chromosome

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How to use X chromosome in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for X-chromosome

X-chromosome

noun
  1. the sex chromosome that occurs in pairs in the diploid cells of the females of many animals, including humans, and as one of a pair with the Y-chromosome in those of males: Compare Y-chromosome

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 X-chromosome

X-chromosome

[ ĕkskrōmə-sōm′ ]


  1. The sex chromosome that in female mammals is paired with another X-chromosome and in males is paired with a Y-chromosome. Very few genes on the X-chromosome have counterparts on the Y-chromosome, and since males have only one X-chromosome, any gene present on it (even if the gene is recessive in females) is expressed in males. In females, one of the two X-chromosomes in each cell is deactivated. See more at sex chromosome. See note at sex.

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