X chromosome

noun

: a sex chromosome that usually occurs paired in each female cell and single in each male cell in species in which the male typically has two unlike sex chromosomes compare y chromosome

Examples of X chromosome in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Because genetic females have two X chromosomes and genetic males have one X and one Y chromosomes, two out of every three X chromosomes in a population, on average, are inherited from people’s mothers. —ABC News, 26 Feb. 2026

There’s less Neanderthal DNA on humans’ X chromosome than there is on most other chromosomes today. —Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 26 Feb. 2026

Perhaps, researchers have speculated, genes on the X chromosome don’t transfer well between species, or Neanderthal genetic variants on the X chromosome were disadvantageous in some way to human variants and were therefore gradually eliminated by the evolutionary process of natural selection. —Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 26 Feb. 2026

Scientists have long hypothesized that women’s estrogen hormone and their double X chromosome may play a role in their longer lives. —Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 14 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for X chromosome

• acrosome
• aerodrome
• catacomb
• centrosome
• cytochrome
• hippodrome
• honeycomb
• liposome
• meerschaum
• metronome
• microtome
• monochrome

Kids Definition

X chromosome

noun

: a sex chromosome that is associated with femaleness and usually occurs paired in each female cell and single in each male cell in organisms (as human beings) in which the male normally has two unlike sex chromosomes compare y chromosome

Medical Definition

X chromosome

noun

: a sex chromosome that usually occurs paired in each female cell and single in each male cell in species in which the male typically has two unlike sex chromosomes compare y chromosome