molecularadj.n.
/məˈlɛkjᵿlə/, U.S. /məˈlɛkjələr/ I. Scientific uses.
1.
a. Of or relating to a molecule or molecules; consisting of molecules (rather than atoms); acting or inherent in the molecules of a substance.
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the world > matter > chemistry > atomic chemistry > [adjective] > relating to molecules
molecular1770
1770 Monthly Rev. 42 531 The organical or molecular hypothesis.
1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 51 Parallelopipeds, whose least molecular attraction is in the direction of their diagonal planes.
1844 R. W. Emerson Ess. 2nd Ser. ii. 69 The new molecular philosophy shows astronomical interspaces betwixt atom and atom.
1871 J. Tyndall Fragments Sci. (ed. 2) i. 12 That molecular attraction which we call chemical affinity.
1872 C. Darwin Origin of Species (ed. 6) iv. 100 The shape of a crystal is determined solely by the molecular forces.
1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. §385 The ultimate, or molecular, constitution of the bodies.
1884 J. Tait Mind in Matter 100 Molecular movements are not identical with thought and feeling.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xii. 190 I was aware of a spiritual change, or, perhaps, rather a molecular reconstitution.
1930 J. H. Jeans Universe around Us (ed. 2) ii. 97 It is the high speed of molecular motion that is responsible for the great pressure exerted by a gas.
1936 E. A. Atkins & A. G. Walker Electr. Arc & Oxy-acetylene Welding (ed. 3) 355 Molecular hydrogen passing through an alternating arc between two tungsten wires is split up into atomic hydrogen.
1946 L. Toft & A. T. J. Kersey Theory of Machines (ed. 5) vii. 200 The molecules adhere to the surface, forming a layer of fluid of molecular thickness.
1978 Sci. Amer. Jan. 56/3 Today the three-dimensional structure of large biological molecules is commonly determined by means of the X-ray-diffraction analysis of molecular crystals.
1984 A. C. Duxbury & A. Duxbury Introd. World's Oceans iv. 129 The only way to transmit the heat downward is molecular conduction.
1996 Nature 6 June 489/2 Elliptical galaxies contain almost no neutral or molecular gas.
b. Designating the branch of a science that deals with phenomena at the molecular level. Cf. molecular biology n., molecular electronics n.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > [adjective]
atomic1841
molecular1864
microphysical1897
1864 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 88 61 (title) On molecular physics.
1864 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 88 223 This theory of the origin of terrestrial magnetism, as a part of the general theory of Molecular Physics, here presented.
1864 London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 28 438 (title) Contributions to molecular physics.
1869 M. Somerville (title) On molecular and microscopic science.
1874 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 10 Dec. (1956) VI. 99 The consideration of molecular physics is not the direct ground of human love and moral action.
1897 H. G. Wells Invisible Man xix. 144 Common men—even common mathematicians, do not know anything of what some general expression may mean to the student of molecular physics.
1961 R. D. Baker Essent. Pathol. i. 6 With the electron microscope we are entering an era of molecular pathology.
1963 Listener 17 Jan. 121/2 It seemed to me that soon what Russian biology will mean will not be Lysenko, but some first-class molecular genetics.
1970 Sci. News Yearbk. 225 Molecular astronomy is a science only a few years old. Its purpose is to determine what chemical molecules can be found in interstellar space and..how they got there.
1974 Nature 23 Aug. 685/1 Now it is the turn of immunochemistry, or as some would have it, molecular immunology.
1979 D. L. Dineley Fossils i. 39 Molecular palaeontology is the study of such fossil organic compounds derived from once-living things.
1992 Sci. Amer. May 73 This young science of molecular archaeology provides the first absolute check on inferences drawn from the genetics of modern populations.
c. Designating physical quantities whose calculation involves the molecular weight of the substance concerned (for most of which molar is a more appropriate designation: see molar adj.4 1).molecular heat, mass, rotation, weight: see Compounds.
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the world > matter > chemistry > units or measurements > [adjective] > of or relating to moles
molecular1867
molar1902
molal1908
1867 C. L. Bloxam Chemistry 515 One equivalent of each of these hydrocarbons in the state of vapour occupies four volumes. [Indexed, p. 660, as] Molecular volumes of olefines.
1880 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 38 294 For every substance, therefore, (A − 1)/d is a constant... If this constant be multiplied by the molecular weight P of any body, then P.(A − 1)/d, referred to chemically comparable quantities, is the molecular refractive index, called in the rest of this paper the molecular refraction of the body.
1886 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 50 294 The author [sc. W. Ostwald] in continuing his researches on ‘Electrical Conductivity’..has examined about 130 different inorganic and organic acids in different states of dilution... He..expresses his results in terms of molecular conductivity.
1921 G. F. Hood & J. A. Carpenter Text-bk. Pract. Chem. vi. x. 489 The molecular conductivity is that of a solution containing 1 gram-molecule of the substance, as above [sc. when placed between electrodes of indefinite size and 1 cm. apart].
1938 H. A. Perkins Course of Physics xlvii. 624 The number of gram molecules per liter, or moles per liter, is called molecular concentration.
1966 F. T. Gucker & R. L. Seifert Physical Chem. (1967) xiii. 346 One molecular weight of the salt contains N ions of each element in the molecular volume V, equal to the molecular weight divided by the density.
1984 J. F. Lamb et al. Essent. Physiol. (ed. 2) vii. 189 When gases are dissolved in a liquid the molar or molecular concentration depends on the partial pressure of the gas in the liquid.
2. Biology. Consisting (or believed to consist) of very tiny particles (see molecule n. 3); finely granular. Now only in molecular layer n. 2.
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the world > life > biology > substance > [adjective] > other types of
organical1770
siliceous1813
molecular1826
fibroid1852
homoblastic1888
pseudostratified1900
homostatic1952
homovital1952
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. xxxvii. 3 Comparative anatomists have considered the nervous system of animals as formed upon three primary types, which may be called the molecular, the ganglionic, and cerebrospinal. The first is where invisible nervous molecules are dispersed in a gelatinous body.
1851 W. Wilkinson Outl. Physiol. 9 Molecular and granular matter consists of particles that vary in size from immeasureable minuteness to 1·10,000th of an inch in diameter; and these particles are called molecules or granules, according to the appearance they present when examined with a magnifying power of 300 diameters.
1856 Quain's Elements Anat. (ed. 6) III. 26 The intermediate portion, f, has a longitudinally-striped appearance, and is formed by the fine fibres of Müller.., which intervene between the two parts of the granular layer, together with a homogeneous molecular uniting material.
II. Extended uses.
3. Involving or based on the behaviour of individuals, esp. as independent constituents of a larger whole; (Sociology) relating to or concerned with a fundamental unit or limited aspect of a subject, society, etc., rather than the aggregate whole.
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the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [adjective]
portionala1382
particulara1387
partial?a1425
part1496
molecular1877
1877 Mind 2 455 Even when the molecular politics of Greece had been dissolved in a single all-absorbing state.
1905 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 10 457 The building, diffusion, and transmission of languages, myths, and the like appear to depend, not on mass-action of any kind, but on innumerable molecular occurrences.
1953 C. W. Mills in Philos. Sci. 20 266 The other way of sociological research might be called the molecular. It is..characterized by its usually small-scale problems and by its generally statistical models of verification.
1964 A. Rapoport in I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. vi. 95 In particular, he [sc. C. W. Mills] distinguishes between ‘macroscopic’ and ‘molecular’ social inquiry.
1977 A. J. Chapman et al. in H. Giles Lang., Ethnicity & Intergroup Relations vi. 165 At a more molecular level of analysis, the data from children in the alone conditions have not been mentioned to date.
1992 Social Psychol. Q. 55 293 The molecular level of analysis used to test the hypotheses.
4. Philosophy. Of a proposition, sentence, etc.: consisting of or analysable into simple propositions, sentences, etc., truth-functionally connected by one or more conjunctions (cf. atomic adj. 10). Also as n.: a molecular proposition (rare).
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the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [adjective] > of types of propositions
causalc1530
subalternate1599
equipollent1642
reduplicative1671
subalternating1671
pure1697
poristic1704
desitive1725
inceptive1725
contrary1739
exponible1788
analytic1797
analytical1797
poristical1828
oristica1832
oristicosemeiotica1832
balanced1849
plurative1849
molecular1892
dyadic1897
monadic1897
dispositional1909
non-atomic1934
1892 Mind 1 237 The molecular proposition—which cannot be expressed as a synthesis of more elementary propositions—involves a single (absolute or relative) predication and a number of interconnected individual subjects.
1892 Mind 1 239 The synthesis of moleculars having the same subject is represented by a synthesis of the predications.
1914 B. Russell Our Knowl. External World ii. 54 ‘Molecular’ propositions are such as contain conjunctions—if, or, and, unless, etc.—and such words are the marks of a molecular proposition.
1937 A. Smeaton tr. R. Carnap Logical Syntax Lang. iii. 88 1 is called a molecular sentence when 1 is either an atomic sentence itself, or is formed from one or more such by means of symbols of negation and junction (and brackets).
1997 D. Jutronić Maribor Papers Naturalized Semantics 9 Devitt defends a molecular localism according to which a few of the inferential properties of a token may constitute its meaning.
5. Psychology. Concerned with or relating to an elementary unit of behaviour such as a physiological response. Cf. molar adj.3 2.
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the mind > mental capacity > psychology > behaviourism > [adjective] > relating to unit of behaviour
molecular1925
1925 C. D. Broad Mind & its Place xiv. 616 I will lump together all such changes under the name of ‘molar behaviour’, as contrasted with ‘molecular behaviour’.
1932 E. C. Tolman Purposive Behavior I. i. 7 On the one hand, he [sc. J. B. Watson] has defined behavior in terms of its strict physical and physiological details, i.e., in terms of receptor-process, conductor-process, and effector-process per se. We shall designate this as the molecular definition of behavior.
1970 F. A. Logan in W. S. Sahakian Psychol. of Learning xvi. 307 The molar response ‘bar depression’ includes a number of responses distinguishable at a more molecular level, such as depression with the right paw, left paw, etc.
1973 Jrnl. Genetic Psychol. 123 99 The continuous-recording technique did..yield a more molecular analysis in that incidence of behaviors could be subdivided into frequency and duration.
1979 F. Jameson Fables of Aggression 8 The molecular level designates the here-and-now of immediate perception or of local desire, the production time of the individual sentence, the electrifying shock of the individual word.
Compounds
molecular beam n. Physics a narrow directed beam of molecules, ions, or atoms.
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1955 C. H. Townes et al. in Physical Rev. 15 Aug. 1264/1 [Announcing the laser, then called a maser] The device utilizes a molecular beam in which molecules in the excited state of a microwave transition are selected.
1992 Sci. Amer. Nov. 94/2 The ingenious apparatus can record chemical identifications within tens of femtoseconds by use of ultrashort laser pulses, collisionless, polarized molecular beams, and well-timed pulse manipulation.
molecular beam epitaxy n. Manufacturing Technology a technique used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices in which a molecular beam is used to deposit a very thin or monomolecular layer of a substance on to a crystalline substrate; abbreviated MBE.
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1971 Solid State Communic. 9 565/1 The growth and perfection of epitaxial films by molecular beams impinging on a substrate surface can produce large uniform single crystal layers... Other advantages of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) such as uniform doping profiles with abrupt junctions have also been demonstrated.
1986 Sci. Amer. Oct. 110/3 One of the most promising techniques has been molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE), by means of which exquisitely thin layers of different semiconductor materials are deposited successively almost as if by a spray gun.
1992 Microelectronics Jrnl. 23 502/1 Many attempts have been made to overcome these difficulties by using specific dopant materials and non-equilibrium growth conditions with modern growth techniques like molecular beam epitaxy.
molecular energy n. energy possessed by molecules.
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1860 Philos. Trans. 1859 (Royal Soc.) 149 797 Heat also, which decreases the cohesive force, increases the molecular energy.
1920 G. A. Goodenough Princ. Thermodynamics (ed. 3) 5 The experiments of Rumford (1798), Davy (1812), and Joule (1840) showed the falsity of the caloric theory and established the identity of heat with molecular energy.
1958 Science 11 Apr. 806/1 The high frequency end of the electromagnetic spectrum (x-rays, ultraviolet) is quickly absorbed in the atmosphere and converted to lower frequency electromagnetic energy and molecular energy.
2006 W. W. Liou & Y. Fang Microfluid Dynamics ii. 8 Temperature, a macroscopic gas property, can then be used as a measure of the specific molecular energy.
molecular formula n. Chemistry a formula giving the number of atoms of each element in a single molecule of a substance (or a single structural unit of a polymer), without regard to their spatial arrangement.
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1866 H. E. Roscoe Lessons Elem. Chem. xxxii. 286 Aldehyde is capable of existing in three other peculiar states... The molecular formula of paraldehyde appears to be, C6H12O3, or 3(C2H4O).
1906 E. M. Weaver Notes Mil. Explosives iv. 123 A soluble nitrocellulose of so called definite percentage of N(12·4), corresponding to the molecular formula, C30H38(NO2)12O25.
1934 C. C. Steele Introd. Plant Biochem. iii. 22 These two propyl alcohols have the same molecular formula, C3H7OH, but their structural formulæ (III) and (IV), are different; they are therefore structural isomers.
1995 European Jrnl. Biochem. 230 821 High-resolution mass spectral analysis gave a precise mass consistent with the molecular formula C27H40N14S.
molecular fossil n. a molecule whose presence in ancient rocks is regarded as evidence of the existence or early development of life; (in extended use) a molecule regarded as representing a feature of an earlier stage in development or evolution.
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the world > life > biology > organism > fossil > [noun] > types of
astroite1610
belemnite1646
mussel-stone1660
scallop-stone1668
trochite1676
conchite1677
ophiomorphite1677
pectinite1677
worm-stone1677
musculite1681
serpent-stone1681
sugar-plum1681
glossopetraa1684
ague shell1708
forket1708
mytilite1727
grit1748
phytolithus1761
fairy beads1767
fairy fingers1780
fairy arrow1794
gryphite1794
ram's horn1797
hysterolite1799
tubulite1799
thunder-pick1801
celleporite1808
ceraunite1814
seraph1822
serpulite1828
coprolite1829
subfossil1831
pencil1843
trigonellite1845
buccinite1852
rudist1855
guide fossil1867
witch's cradle1867
coccolith1868
fairy cheeses1869
discolith1871
Portland screw1871
spiniferite1872
cyatholith1875
cryptozoon1883
sabellite1889
palaeospecies1895
homoeomorph1898
rudistid1900
megafossil1932
scolecodont1933
macrofossil1937
hystrichosphere1955
palynomorph1961
acritarch1963
molecular fossil1965
mitrate1967
1965 M. Calvin in Proc. Royal Soc. A. 288 443 We are going to spend much of our time tracing organic evolution back in so far as we can trace it back in terms of ‘molecular fossils’ from the earliest well recognized fossils of morphological form.
1969 Sci. Jrnl. Apr. 36 The exciting studies of Calvin, who has attempted to prove the existence of what he calls ‘molecular fossils’, have not, however, firmly established the biogenic nature of these substances.
1971 Nature 30 July 325/2 The search for geological evidence about the origin and evolution of life on Earth has led to detailed searches for morphological and molecular fossils in Early Precambrian sedimentary rocks.
1987 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84 7383 We propose that such 3′-terminal tRNA-like structures are in fact molecular fossils of the original RNA world, where they tagged genomic RNA molecules for replication.
1996 European Jrnl. Biochem. 235 449 S- and Ω-crystallins appear to be lens-specific..and, except for one S-crystallin polypeptide (SL11/Lops4; possibly a molecular fossil), lack enzymatic activity.
molecular gastronomy n. a scientific approach to cookery, which typically involves subjecting particular recipes or techniques to experimental scrutiny; cooking which uses innovative techniques and novel combinations of flavour and texture developed through or inspired by this approach.
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1993 Mercury (Hobart) 24 Dec. 15/1 A scientific experiment will take place in millions of homes on Christmas Day in research that has been dubbed ‘molecular gastronomy’ by Dr Peter Barham... He decided to show that cooking..is the application of proven principles of chemistry and physics.
2004 Evening Standard (Nexis) 26 Jan. a18 Molecular gastronomy..mixing tastes and textures and turning everything on its head.
2006 Maclean's (Electronic ed.) 13 Feb. 45 With their thyme-oil-producing centrifuge and vacuum-microwaved Savourants, the Dubys are in the vanguard of molecular gastronomy,..revolutionizing the flavour, appearance—even the perception—of cuisine.
molecular heat n. Physics the heat required to raise the temperature of one gram-molecule of a compound by one degree; the product of the molecular weight of a compound and its specific heat.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > heat > [noun] > atomic or molecular heat
atomic heat1850
molecular heat1864
1864 H. Watts Dict. Chem. III. 37 As a rule, the molecular heat of solid compound bodies increases with the number of atoms contained in their molecule.
1922 T. M. Lowry Inorg. Chem. xiii. 140 Indirect evidence of the complexity of the molecules of gaseous elements is obtained from the study of their molecular heats.
1988 H. A. Klein Sci. Measurem. xxx. 343 Molecular-heat capacities of myriads of compounds and the atomic-heat capacities of numerous elementary substances are among their most important and revealing characteristics.
molecular machine n. (a) a complex molecule which carries out a specific physical or chemical task, esp. one involving the spatial manipulation of atoms; (b) a nanotechnological machine or device, esp. one assembled at a molecular level; a nanomachine.
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1973 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 70 904/1 [In] the electromechanochemical..model of mitochondrial energy transduction..the transducing unit (supermolecule) is a molecular machine that manipulates chemical and electromechanochemical energy.
1977 Jrnl. Theoret. Biol. 69 174 It has been conjectured..that biological molecular machines can approach 100% efficiency.
1986 Economist (Nexis) 15 Mar. 95 Proteins..are molecular machines whose job is to catalyse all the chemical reactions that take place in cells.
1993 Wired Mar. (Premiere Issue) 32/2 These ‘molecular machines’ will be able to manipulate other atoms and particles to create almost anything imaginable:..quantum chips, new chemicals, or tiny robots.
1997 Sci. Amer. May 60 Small molecular machines called metallocene catalysts have revolutionized the industrial synthesis of valuable plastics.
molecular mass n. Physics = molecular weight n.
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1894 Littell's Living Age 7 Apr. 10/1 We have reason to believe that each molecule of the same element always has the sme mass, and that different elements have in general different molecular masses.
1919 F. W. Aston in Nature 18 Dec. 393/2 Of more than forty different values of atomic and molecular mass so far measured all, without a single exception, fall on whole numbers.
1970 Nature 28 Nov. 889/2 Thus it would be correct to write..‘the molecular mass of protein X is 250,000 [read 25,000] daltons’; or ‘the relative molecular mass (that is, molecular weight) of protein X is 25,000’.
1991 New Scientist 28 Sept. 22/2 Compounds which share the same chemical composition and molecular mass yet differ in a physical or chemical property are known as isomers.
molecular orbital n. an electronic orbital in a molecule.
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1932 R. S. Mulliken in Physical Rev. 41 50 The method followed here will be to describe unshared electrons always in terms of atomic orbitals but to use molecular orbitals for shared electrons.
1965 C. S. G. Phillips & R. J. P. Williams Inorg. Chem. I. iii. 67 The problem will be introduced by a summary of the two important wave-mechanical approximation methods, the L.C.A.O. (linear combination of atomic orbitals) molecular-orbital method and the valence-bond method.
1984 N. N. Greenwood & A. Earnshaw Chem. of Elements (1986) vi. 179 In simple covalent bonding theory molecular orbitals..are formed by the linear combination of atomic orbitals.
1995 School Sci. Rev. June 64/1 I discuss the relative merits of the valence bond localized and molecular orbital delocalized representations of the benzene ring.
molecular rotation n. Physical Chemistry (a) rotation of a molecule or part of a molecule; (b) the optical activity of a substance in solution or as a liquid adjusted to allow for the molar concentration or density of the active substance; cf. specific rotation n. at specific adj. and n. Compounds.
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1888 A. B. Bassett Treat. Hydrodynamics I. 75 Let P be any point on the axis of one of these [vortex] filaments, dm the mass of the filament which contains P, w and dS the molecular rotation and cross section of the filament.
1906 G. M'Gowan & J. J. Sudborough Bernthsen's Text-bk. Org. Chem. xlvii. 627 The molecular rotation is the product of the specific rotatory power into the molecular weight (M).
1967 E. U. Condon & H. Odishaw Handbk. Physics (ed. 2) vi. 123/1 The molecular rotation is the product of the specific rotation by the molecular weight M of the active material, and therefore it is the rotation divided by the concentration of active material expressed in gram moles per cubic centimeter.
1967 E. U. Condon & H. Odishaw Handbk. Physics (ed. 2) vi. 123/2 For Na D light the molecular rotation is about 1,100 for R1 = methyl and R2 = ethyl, increasing gradually to about 1,400 as R2 moves along the homologous series up to n-decyl.
1991 D. W. H. Rankin et al. Structural Methods Inorg. Chem. (ed. 2) 226 The remaining local modes are torsional. They derive from molecular rotation of CH3X, and can be worked out by representing the local motion by arrows curved round the M-P bonds.
molecular sieve n. a substance containing in its crystal structure pores and channels of molecular dimensions that permit the passage of certain small molecules but are impervious to others; esp. a zeolite used as a selective adsorbent; any physical matrix used to separate molecules by size.
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1926 Colloid Symp. Monogr. 4 11 Collander's work on the sieve structure of semipermeable membranes of copper ferrocyanide has shown that the interstices between the micelles or aggregates are about 4 Ångstrom units in diameter. I would suggest a better molecular sieve, namely such crystals as dehydrated zeolites, etc.
1949 Discuss. Faraday Soc. 7 135 By cation interchange and by burning out interstitial ammonium ions a diversity of modified molecular-sieve sorbents can be produced.
1965 C. S. G. Phillips & R. J. P. Williams Inorg. Chem. I. xiv. 544 The molecular-sieve zeolites, sodium and calcium aluminosilicates, are used to fractionate noble gases and low molecular weight molecules generally.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) VIII. 547/1 Molecular sieves are capable of drying gases and liquids to extremely low residual water concentrations.
1988 L. Stryer Biochem. (ed. 3) iii. 44 Gels serve as molecular sieves that enhance separation.
1998 New Scientist 28 Mar. 11/3 Designer molecular sieves that could be used for anything from weatherproofing surfaces to making effluent filters..have been developed by chemists in America.
molecular weight n. Physical Chemistry the relative molecular mass of a molecule, equal to the sum of the relative atomic masses (atomic weights) of the constituent atoms.
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the world > matter > chemistry > atomic chemistry > [noun] > molecules > molecular weight
molecular weight1860
MW1939
1860 Proc. Royal Soc. 1859–60 10 586 It was of some interest to obtain additional experimental evidence for the molecular weight of azobenzol.
1904 C. S. Palmer & R. A. Lehfeldt tr. W. Nernst Theoret. Chem. (ed. 2) ii. iv. 275 There are isomeric substances having the same per cent composition and different molecular weights, as acetylene C2H2, and benzene C6H6.
1933 A. W. Barton Text Bk. Heat vii. 149 This method is designed to give a rapid and simple determination of the vapour density of a substance to 5 per cent. with a view to estimating its molecular weight.
1950 Sci. News 15 88 Blue hæmocyanin... This molecule is the largest of any known substance, having a molecular weight of several millions.
1959 N. Feather Introd. Physics Mass, Length & Time xv. 283 Equation (126) is now the equation of state for a mass m of an ideal gas of molecular weight, or, strictly, of molar mass, M.
1994 Sci. Amer. Sept. 42/3 An unknown protein of high molecular weight.
molecular wire n. Chemistry a polymer molecule that conducts electricity along its length, usually as a result of having a conjugated chain and delocalized electrons.
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1979 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 101 6342 The polyisopropene chain may function as ‘nature's molecular wire’.
1990 New Scientist 8 Sept. 38/1 Molecular wires conduct electricity because they have double bonds along their chains, which allow electrons to flow from one end to the other.
1995 Canad. Chem. News (Nexis) 47 32 This area also encompasses molecular switches and molecular wires necessary for the future applications of molecular electronics.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1770