straight-chain

[ streyt-cheyn ]

nounChemistry.
  1. an open chain of atoms, usually carbon, with no side chains attached to it.

Origin of straight-chain

1
First recorded in 1925–30
  • Also called straight chain .

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use straight-chain in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for straight chain

straight chain

noun
  1. : Compare branched chain

    • an open chain of atoms in a molecule with no attached side chains

    • (as modifier): a straight-chain hydrocarbon

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 straight chain

straight chain

  1. An arrangement of atoms of the same type that forms an unbranched open chain. Propane is a straight-chain compound with a chain of three carbon atoms.

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