plural base pairs
: one of the pairs of nucleotide bases on complementary strands of nucleic acid that consist of a purine on one strand joined to a pyrimidine on the other strand by hydrogen bonds holding together the two strands much like the rungs of a ladder and that include adenine linked to thymine in DNA or to uracil in RNA and guanine linked to cytosine in both DNA and RNA
variants
or base-pair
base paired or base-paired; base pairing or base-pairing; base pairs or base-pairs
: to participate in formation of a base pair
adenine base-pairs with thymine
Examples of base pair in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024
Previous work showed that ancient DNA often degrades into segments made of fewer than a couple hundred base pairs — the building blocks of all DNA.
—Lizette Ortega, Washington Post, 11 July 2024
In September 2024, an international team sequenced the shark’s very large genome—a genetic code of 6.5 billion base pairs, twice as long as the human genome.
—Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Dec. 2024
For researchers drumming up a brand-new genome, the fabrication itself isn’t the hard part; scientists already know how to assemble DNA base pairs into strings.
—Quanta Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024
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Noun
In the book analogy, base pairs are like the words in the book.
—William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024
Previous work showed that ancient DNA often degrades into segments made of fewer than a couple hundred base pairs — the building blocks of all DNA.
—Lizette Ortega, Washington Post, 11 July 2024
In September 2024, an international team sequenced the shark’s very large genome—a genetic code of 6.5 billion base pairs, twice as long as the human genome.
—Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Dec. 2024
For researchers drumming up a brand-new genome, the fabrication itself isn’t the hard part; scientists already know how to assemble DNA base pairs into strings.
—Quanta Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for base pair
Dictionary Entries Near base pair
Cite this Entry
“Base pair.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/base%20pair. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
base pair
1 of 2 noun
: one of the pairs of nucleotide bases on complementary strands of nucleic acid that consist of a purine on one strand joined to a pyrimidine on the other strand by hydrogen bonds holding together the two strands much like the rungs of a ladder and that include adenine linked to thymine in DNA or to uracil in RNA and guanine linked to cytosine in both DNA and RNA
base pair
2 of 2 intransitive verb
variants
or base-pair
: to participate in formation of a base pair
adenine base pairs with thymine
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