Meaning & use

nucleotide

noun·Advanced

A basic building block of DNA and RNA, made of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen base.

See it in a sentence

Each nucleotide pairs with a specific partner to form the double helix of DNA.

Researchers sequenced millions of nucleotides to map the organism's entire genome.

A note on using this word

Nucleotides link together in long chains, and the order of their bases carries an organism's genetic information.

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