HYDROCARBON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hydrocarbon mean? 

• HYDROCARBON (noun)
  The noun HYDROCARBON has 1 sense:

1. an organic compound containing only carbon and hydrogen

  Familiarity information: HYDROCARBON used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HYDROCARBON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An organic compound containing only carbon and hydrogen

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("hydrocarbon" is a kind of...):

organic compound (any compound of carbon and another element or a radical)

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

bottled gas; liquefied petroleum gas (hydrocarbon gases, usually propane or butane, kept under pressure)

provitamin (vitamin precursor; a substance that is converted into a vitamin in animal tissues)

terpene (an unsaturated hydrocarbon obtained from plants)

gas oil (an oil formed through distillation of petroleum of intermediate boiling range and viscosity)

octane (any isomeric saturated hydrocarbon found in petroleum and used as a fuel and solvent)

pyrene (a pale yellow crystalline hydrocarbon C16H10 extracted from coal tar)

naphthalene (a white crystalline strong-smelling hydrocarbon made from coal tar or petroleum and used in organic synthesis and as a fumigant in mothballs)

naphtha (any of various volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures; used chiefly as solvents)

butadiene (a gaseous hydrocarbon C4H6; used in making synthetic rubbers)

bitumen (any of various naturally occurring impure mixtures of hydrocarbons)

chlorobenzene (a colorless volatile flammable liquid with an almond odor that is made from chlorine and benzene; used as a solvent and in the production of phenol and DDT and other organic compounds)

C2H6; ethane (a colorless odorless alkane gas used as fuel)

dioxin (any of several toxic or carcinogenic hydrocarbons that occur as impurities in herbicides)

cymene (any of three isotopes of a colorless aromatic liquid hydrocarbon occurring in the volatile oil of cumin and thyme and used in the manufacture of synthetic resins)

indene (a colorless liquid hydrocarbon extracted from petroleum or coal tar and used in making synthetic resins)

aromatic hydrocarbon (a hydrocarbon that contains one or more benzene rings that are characteristic of the benzene series of organic compounds)

coal oil; kerosene; kerosine; lamp oil (a flammable hydrocarbon oil used as fuel in lamps and heaters)

gas; gasolene; gasoline; petrol (a volatile flammable mixture of hydrocarbons (hexane and heptane and octane etc.) derived from petroleum; used mainly as a fuel in internal-combustion engines)

gasohol (a gasoline substitute consisting of 90% gasoline and 10% grain alcohol from corn)

aromatic compound (a hydrocarbon containing one or more benzene rings that are characteristic of the benzene series of compounds)

 Context examples 

This allele, which encodes aryl hydrocarbon receptor protein, plays a role in both the mediation of the biochemical and toxic effects of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons and the regulation of the cell cycle.

(AHR wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2 protein, plays a role in the regulation of the transcriptional responses to both xenobiotic chemicals and environmental stimuli.

(ARNT2 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (848 aa, ~96 kDa) is encoded by the human AHR gene.

(Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor, NCI Thesaurus)

We tend to think of these hydrocarbons as a gas on Earth, unless they're pressurized in a tank.

(Cassini Reveals Surprises with Titan's Lakes, NASA)

Organic molecules made of carbon and hydrogen, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are excited by interstellar radiation and become luminescent at wavelengths near 8.0 microns, giving the nebula its reddish features.

('Space Butterfly' Is Home to Hundreds of Baby Stars, NASA)

Cassini spacecraft recently captured images of clouds moving across the northern hydrocarbon seas of Saturn's moon Titan.

(Cassini tracks clouds developing over a Titan sea, NASA)

Saturn's moon Titan is home to seas and lakes filled with liquid hydrocarbons, but what forms the depressions on the surface?

(The Mysterious 'Lakes' on Saturn's Moon Titan, NASA)

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (789 aa, ~87 kDa) is encoded by the human ARNT gene.

(Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator, NCI Thesaurus)

A clear, colorless, volatile and very stable chlorinated hydrocarbon.

(Carbon Tetrachloride, NCI Thesaurus)

A white, volatile, solid polycyclic hydrocarbon with a strong mothball odor.

(Naphthalene, NCI Thesaurus)