free radicalnoun [ C often plural ]
uk/ˌfriː ˈræd.ɪ.kəl/us/ˌfriː ˈræd.ɪ.kəl/specializeda molecule that has an extra electron and therefore reacts very easily with other molecules:
Free radicals have been implicated in cancer and many other serious diseases.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Physics: atoms, molecules & sub-atomic particles
- acceptor
- anion
- antilepton
- antimatter
- antineutrino
- antiparticle
- disaccharide
- elementary particle
- intramolecular
- ion
- ionize
- lepton
- Lewis structure
- macromolecule
- neutron
- quark
- relative molecular mass
- strong force
- subatomic particle
- subunit
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