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lectin

American  
[lek-tin] / ˈlɛk tɪn /

noun

Biochemistry.

  1. any of a group of proteins that bind to particular carbohydrates in the manner of an antibody and are commonly extracted from plants for use as an agglutinin, as in clumping red blood cells for blood typing.

lectin British  
/ ˈlɛktɪn /

noun

  1. a type of protein possessing high affinity for a specific sugar; lectins are often highly toxic

"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

Etymology

Origin of lectin

1954; < Latin lēct ( us ), past participle of legere to gather, select, read + -in 2

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.