nucleotide
noun
nu·cle·o·tide
ˈnü-klē-ə-ˌtīd 
ˈnyü-
: any of several compounds that consist of a ribose or deoxyribose sugar joined to a purine or pyrimidine base and to a phosphate group and that are the basic structural units of nucleic acids (such as RNA and DNA) compare nucleoside
Examples of nucleotide in a Sentence
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The metaphor leaps out: Like letters of the alphabet, molecules (the nucleotide bases A, T, C and G, for adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine) are arranged into sequences — words, paragraphs, chapters, perhaps — in every organism, from bacteria to humans.
—
Ingrid Wickelgren, Quanta Magazine, 5 Feb. 2025
Phosphorus is the structural backbone of the phosphate nucleotides in DNA and RNA, Natalie Hinkel, a planetary astrophysicist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, told me via email.
—Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
Zoom in: Moderna, in partnership with IBM Research, is experimenting with using quantum computers to predict how messenger RNA molecules fold when nucleotides that aren't next to one another interact.
—Alison Snyder, Axios, 2 Jan. 2025
In the absence of the modern proteins that make copies of genes inside cells, the prebiotic world would have relied on simple chemical reactions between nucleotides – the building blocks of genetic material – to make copies of RNA.
—Discover Magazine, 17 Oct. 2024
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Ingrid Wickelgren, Quanta Magazine, 5 Feb. 2025
Phosphorus is the structural backbone of the phosphate nucleotides in DNA and RNA, Natalie Hinkel, a planetary astrophysicist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, told me via email.
—Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
Zoom in: Moderna, in partnership with IBM Research, is experimenting with using quantum computers to predict how messenger RNA molecules fold when nucleotides that aren't next to one another interact.
—Alison Snyder, Axios, 2 Jan. 2025
In the absence of the modern proteins that make copies of genes inside cells, the prebiotic world would have relied on simple chemical reactions between nucleotides – the building blocks of genetic material – to make copies of RNA.
—Discover Magazine, 17 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for nucleotide
Cite this Entry
“Nucleotide.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nucleotide. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
nucleotide
noun
nu·cle·o·tide
ˈn(y)ü-klē-ə-ˌtīd
: any of the basic units of structure of DNA or RNA that consist of a base (as adenine, cytosine, guanine, or thymine) joined to a sugar (as deoxyribose) with five carbon atoms in a molecule and to a phosphate group
Medical Definition
nucleotide
noun
nu·cle·o·tide
ˈn(y)ü-klē-ə-ˌtīd
: any of several compounds that consist of a ribose or deoxyribose sugar joined to a purine or pyrimidine base and to a phosphate group and that are the basic structural units of RNA and DNA compare nucleoside
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