Nucleoside

//ˈn(j)u(ː)kliəˌsaɪd// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    an organic molecule in which a nitrogenous heterocyclic base (or nucleobase), which can be either a double-ringed purine or a single-ringed pyrimidine, is covalently attached to a five-carbon pentose sugar (deoxyribose in DNA or ribose in RNA). When the phosphate group is covalently attached to the pentose sugar, it forms a nucleotide.
  2. 2
    a glycoside formed by partial hydrolysis of a nucleic acid wordnet

Example

More examples

"Originally designed by Japanese researchers for influenza, the drug is a nucleoside analogue — a molecule that looks like a building block of genetic material."

Etymology

Probably from nucleo- + (glyc)oside.

Related phrases

C-nucleoside

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.