CHEMICAL REACTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does chemical reaction mean? 

• CHEMICAL REACTION (noun)
  The noun CHEMICAL REACTION has 1 sense:

1. (chemistry) a process in which one or more substances are changed into others

  Familiarity information: CHEMICAL REACTION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHEMICAL REACTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(chemistry) a process in which one or more substances are changed into others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

chemical reaction; reaction

Context example:

there was a chemical reaction of the lime with the ground water

Hypernyms ("chemical reaction" is a kind of...):

chemical action; chemical change; chemical process ((chemistry) any process determined by the atomic and molecular composition and structure of the substances involved)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chemical reaction"):

endothermic reaction (a chemical reaction accompanied by the absorption of heat)

saponification (a chemical reaction in which an ester is heated with an alkali (especially the alkaline hydrolysis of a fat or oil to make soap))

reducing; reduction (any process in which electrons are added to an atom or ion (as by removing oxygen or adding hydrogen); always occurs accompanied by oxidation of the reducing agent)

photochemical reaction (a chemical reaction produced by the action of light)

oxidation-reduction; oxidoreduction; redox (a reversible chemical reaction in which one reaction is an oxidation and the reverse is a reduction)

oxidation; oxidisation; oxidization (the process of oxidizing; the addition of oxygen to a compound with a loss of electrons; always occurs accompanied by reduction)

neutralisation; neutralisation reaction; neutralization; neutralization reaction (a chemical reaction in which an acid and a base interact with the formation of a salt; with strong acids and bases the essential reaction is the combination of hydrogen ions with hydroxyl ions to form water)

hydrolysis (a chemical reaction in which water reacts with a compound to produce other compounds; involves the splitting of a bond and the addition of the hydrogen cation and the hydroxide anion from the water)

exothermic reaction (a chemical reaction accompanied by the evolution of heat)

addition reaction (a chemical reaction in which one molecule is added to another)

elimination reaction (a chemical reaction in which a molecule decomposes to two different molecules)

double decomposition; double decomposition reaction; metathesis (a chemical reaction between two compounds in which parts of each are interchanged to form two new compounds (AB+CD=AD+CB))

displacement; displacement reaction ((chemistry) a reaction in which an elementary substance displaces and sets free a constituent element from a compound)

chemical decomposition reaction; decomposition; decomposition reaction ((chemistry) separation of a substance into two or more substances that may differ from each other and from the original substance)

chemical equilibrium; equilibrium (a chemical reaction and its reverse proceed at equal rates)

chain reaction (a series of chemical reactions in which the product of one is a reactant in the next)

aldol reaction (a reaction of aldehydes resulting in an aldol)

 Context examples 

They are also preparing other structures capable of using light to perform chemical reactions, such as the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen.

(Plastic crystals hold key to record-breaking energy transport, Universities of Cambridge)

The study of the energy changes involved in physical and chemical reactions within a cell.

(Cell Energetics, NCI Thesaurus)

The study of rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions and of the factors on which they depend.

(Chemical Kinetics, NCI Thesaurus)

A type of enzyme (a protein that speeds up chemical reactions in the body) that adds chemicals called phosphates to other molecules, such as sugars or proteins.

(Kinase, NCI Dictionary)

L-3,5,5’-tetraiodothyronine increases the rate of chemical reactions in cells and helps control growth and development.

(L-3,5,5’-tetraiodothyronine, NCI Dictionary)

A device designed to produce an electric current through chemical reaction.

(Battery Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

The study of the energy changes involved in physical and chemical reaction, changes, and systems of living organisms.

(Biochemical Energetics, NCI Thesaurus)

In living cells, chemical reactions that help sustain life and allow cells to grow.

(Biochemical reactions, NCI Dictionary)

A unit for measuring catalytic (e.g. enzymatic) activity, the ability of the compound to accelerate the chemical reaction by providing a lower energy pathway between the reactants and the products.

(Katal, NCI Thesaurus)

Most chemical reactions in a cell take place in the cytoplasm.

(Cytoplasm, NCI Dictionary)