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🍊 A vitamin 💊 Cocaine (slang) 🔤 A letter 🎵 A music note 💻 A computer language 🌡️ Celsius degree 💯 100 (Roman numeral) 🧬 A DNA base 🔋 Unit of charge
C

C

2 4.6
A DNA and RNA base, cytosine, that pairs with guanine
  • noun
  • /siː/
  • Specialized
translation icon : citosina
  • The four bases of DNA are adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine.
  • C and G

Examples

  • These DNA bases, labeled ATG and C, are essentially letters in our genetic alphabet.

  • In this test, the patient is given either 13C- or 14C-labeled urea to drink. H. pylori metabolizes the urea rapidly, and the labeled carbon is absorbed.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Scientists study the pairing of cytosine with guanine in DNA structure.

  • In RNA, the base cytosine pairs with guanine, similar to DNA.

Synonyms

cytosine
vsC
  • Specialized
2 5.7

One of the four bases in DNA and RNA that pairs with guanine

is the common base name emphasizing pairing with guanine

Compounds

C-section
  • Specialized
41 3.4

A surgery to deliver a baby by making cuts in the mother's abdomen and womb

vitamin C
  • Specialized
30 1.1

A substance in fruits and vegetables that helps the body stay healthy and fight illness

hepatitis C
  • Specialized
15 3.8

A liver infection caused by a virus spread through blood, for example by sharing needles

C major
2 3.5

A major key with no sharps or flats that uses only the white keys on a piano

D and C
  • Specialized
1 8.0

A surgery that opens the cervix and removes tissue from the womb

middle C
  • Specialized
1 4.2

The note C near the center of a piano used as a reference in music

C compiler
  • Specialized
1 4.7

A computer program that turns C code into instructions the computer can run

C program
  • Specialized
1 3.4

A computer program written in the C language

C-reactive protein
  • Specialized
1 4.3

A protein made by the liver that rises in the blood as a sign of infection or inflammation

C and W
  • US
4.0

A style of popular music from the southern United States with guitars and songs about everyday life

C battery
  • Archaic
8.1

A small cell that gives steady voltage to set the grid of an old radio tube

C clef
  • Specialized
9.8

A movable sign on a music staff that shows middle C

C flute
  • Specialized
4.0

A common concert wind instrument played by blowing across a hole tuned to C and used in orchestras

C horizon
  • Specialized
8.1

A soil layer below the B layer and above bedrock made of partly broken rock with little plant material

C major scale
3.2

A sequence of notes C D E F G A B with no sharps or flats

C-clamp
6.5

A metal clamp shaped like a C that holds wood or metal firmly while you work

chlorophyll c
  • Specialized
6.5

A green pigment in brown algae and tiny water organisms that helps make food from light

C-horizon
  • Specialized
9.6

A soil layer under the B-horizon and above bedrock made mostly of broken rock with few plant roots

C-ration
  • Archaic
9.3

A canned meal given to American soldiers during wars

cytochrome c
  • Specialized
5.5

A small protein in mitochondria that helps move energy in cells

scale of C major
  • Specialized
3.7

A set of notes from C to B with no sharps or flats

the c-word
  • Offensive
9.9

An indirect way to say a very offensive word for a woman's private parts

Surface Forms

C singular
Cs plural

Etymology

C for the DNA base is short for cytosine, built from cyto- meaning 'cell', so C is the short label scientists use for that base in the genetic code.