molecule

noun

mol·e·cule | \ ˈmä-li-ˌkyül

Definition of molecule

1 : the smallest particle of a substance that retains all the properties (see property sense 1a) of the substance and is composed of one or more atoms (see atom sense 1a) a molecule of water a molecule of oxygen

2 : a tiny bit : particle a molecule of political honesty — Time

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Examples of molecule in a Sentence

There is not a molecule of evidence to support these charges. not a molecule of sense in that girl

Recent Examples on the Web

But for all that to happen, the water molecules need something to condense on to—a starting seed. — Helen Czerski, WSJ, "Tiny Particles That Let You See Your Breath," 11 Oct. 2018 As its molecules are larger than glycolic, its treatment percentages are lower. — Kathleen Hou, The Cut, "Everything You Need to Know About Face Acids," 12 July 2018 Because Med 7 has developed a technique to encompass the oil into a water molecule, the absorption rate is 85 percent. — Detroit Free Press, "CBD oil: Safe and effective pain relief," 5 June 2018 In areas where there is less phytoplankton and, in some cases, less life in general, the ocean will appear more blue because water molecules absorb all but the blue light on the spectrum. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "Half of the World's Oceans Will Change in Color by the End of this Century," 5 Feb. 2019 Those molecules also like to pair up with their respective complements: A with T, and C with G. Any sequence of bases will naturally self-assemble with a complementary sequence—ATTAGCA, for instance, will pair with TAATCGT. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Caltech scientists use DNA tiles to play tic-tac-toe at the nanoscale," 29 Dec. 2018 Nicole Marnati, Courtesy Design Academy Eindhoven Taste is a complex sense: Over 11,000 aroma molecules help trigger flavors. — Diana Budds, Curbed, "The most bizarre and brilliant projects from a Dutch design fair," 5 Nov. 2018 Key aromatics and flavor molecules are being identified such as citrus-like esters from ethyl isobutyrate and pineapple-y aromas derived from ethyl hexanoate or the buttery qualities found in the compound diacetyl. — Alan Goldfarb, The Verge, "Artificial whiskey is coming, and one company is betting you’ll drink up," 23 Aug. 2018 Plastics are based on polymers, big molecules constructed from long chains of repeating segments. — Alex Wong, National Geographic, "The Race to Save Historic Plastic Artifacts," 31 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'molecule.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.