hydrocarbon
noun
hy·dro·car·bon
| \ ˈhī-drō-ˌkär-bən
\
\
Definition of hydrocarbon
: an organic compound (such as acetylene or butane) containing only carbon and hydrogen and often occurring in petroleum, natural gas, coal, and bitumens
Examples of hydrocarbon in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
What exactly are fatty acids? Fatty acids are long strings of hydrocarbons with a carboxylic acid functional group on one end. — A.a. Newton, SELF, "Do You Really Need to Put Fatty Acids on Your Face?," 28 Aug. 2019 Producing oil and gas consumes millions of gallons of water per well, water that is injected deep underground with sand and chemicals to stimulate flows of hydrocarbons. — Bruce Finley, The Denver Post, "Historic ranch on Colorado’s high plains now holds millions of gallons of water for Denver-area economic development," 17 Aug. 2019 The facility processes light hydrocarbons including propane and propylene, materials used to make plastic and industrial products. — NBC News, "66 people receiving medical attention after ExxonMobil refinery explosion in Texas," 31 July 2019 The facility processes light hydrocarbons including propane and propylene, materials used to make plastic and industrial products. — Juan A. Lozano, USA TODAY, "Explosion, fire injures 37 at Exxon Mobil refinery in Texas," 31 July 2019 His task had been to create a new product out of hydrocarbon and chlorine, two by-products of manufacturing the dry-cleaning agent perchloroethylene. — Sarah Gibbens, National Geographic, "The sticky problem of plastic wrap," 12 July 2019 In 2013, the U.S. became the world’s top producer both of natural gas and petroleum hydrocarbons, says the government’s U.S. Energy Information Administration. — Seth Borenstein, The Denver Post, "Trump administration fact check: Environment, VA, Russia and jobs," 13 July 2019 But on Titan, the rivers and lakes are full of sloshing liquid hydrocarbons. — Sarah Kaplan, Anchorage Daily News, "NASA plans to send a flying robot to Saturn’s moon Titan," 28 June 2019 For example, some modern archaea that live under oxygen-free conditions and metabolize hydrocarbons depend on bacteria to accept their electrons. — Quanta Magazine, "Researchers Rethink the Ancestry of Complex Cells," 9 Apr. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hydrocarbon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for hydrocarbon
hydrocarbon
noun
English Language Learners Definition of hydrocarbon
technical
: a substance (such as coal or natural gas) that contains only carbon and hydrogen
See the full definition for hydrocarbon in the English Language Learners Dictionary
hydrocarbon
noun
hy·dro·car·bon
| \ ˌhī-drə-ˈkär-bən
\
\
Kids Definition of hydrocarbon
: a substance containing only carbon and hydrogen
hydrocarbon
noun
hy·dro·car·bon
| \ -ˈkär-bən
\
\
Medical Definition of hydrocarbon
: an organic compound (as acetylene, benzene, or butane) containing only carbon and hydrogen and often occurring in petroleum, natural gas, coal, and bitumens
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