polycyclic
adjective
poly·cy·clic
| \ ˌpä-lē-ˈsī-klik
, -ˈsi-
\
, -ˈsi-
\
Definition of polycyclic
: having more than one cyclic component
especially
: having two or more rings in the molecule
Examples of polycyclic in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The authors used official government statistics and satellite images to track the emissions of polycyclic hydrocarbons and the incidence of lung cancer, checking their correlation with beehive coal oven use. — Diana Gitig, Ars Technica, "Chinese ban on small coal-burning ovens took 15 years," 28 Feb. 2018 The authors used official government statistics and satellite images to track the emissions of polycyclic hydrocarbons and the incidence of lung cancer, checking their correlation with beehive coal oven use. — Diana Gitig, Ars Technica, "Chinese ban on small coal-burning ovens took 15 years," 28 Feb. 2018 PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), which form when meat is smoked, charred or cooked over an open flame, are also found in tobacco smoke. — Emily Sohn, chicagotribune.com, "Does grilled meat cause cancer? Maybe, maybe not.," 7 June 2017 PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), which form when meat is smoked, charred or cooked over an open flame, are also found in tobacco smoke. — Emily Sohn, chicagotribune.com, "Does grilled meat cause cancer? Maybe, maybe not.," 7 June 2017 PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), which form when meat is smoked, charred or cooked over an open flame, are also found in tobacco smoke. — Emily Sohn, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Does grilled meat cause cancer?," 6 June 2017 PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), which form when meat is smoked, charred or cooked over an open flame, are also found in tobacco smoke. — Emily Sohn, chicagotribune.com, "Does grilled meat cause cancer? Maybe, maybe not.," 7 June 2017 PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), which form when meat is smoked, charred or cooked over an open flame, are also found in tobacco smoke. — Emily Sohn, chicagotribune.com, "Does grilled meat cause cancer? Maybe, maybe not.," 7 June 2017 As Mira Abed reports for the Los Angeles Times, the team suspected bitumen water bottles might have been harmful to ancient people's health because petroleum releases toxic pollutants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Drinking From Ancient Water Bottles Didn’t Hurt Indigenous People—Making Them Did," 30 June 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'polycyclic.' 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 polycyclic
polycyclic
adjective
poly·cy·clic
| \ ˌpäl-i-ˈsī-klik
, -ˈsik-lik
\
, -ˈsik-lik
\
Medical Definition of polycyclic
: having more than one cyclic component
especially
: having two or more usually fused rings in a molecule