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Glite Dictionary
enzyme reaction

enzyme reaction

3.8
A chemical change in a living thing that proteins make happen faster
  • noun
  • /ˈɛnzaɪm rɪˈækʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : reacción enzimática
  • Introductory Biology students explore the effects of variables on the rate of photosynthesis in green plants and evaluate the effect of inhibitors on the rate of an enzyme reaction (programs by OmegaWare).

Examples

  • It's like claiming that a feature of a product of an enzyme reaction is its biochemical function.

    Blog text (32)

  • This quantitative method cannot be applied directly to enzyme reactions in the foreseeable future.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Enzymes are crucial because they speed up enzyme reactions that help break down food in our bodies.

  • Researchers studied how temperature affects enzyme reactions in bacteria to improve biotechnological applications.

  • The scientists discovered a new method to enhance enzyme reactions that could lead to more efficient biofuel production.

Synonyms

reaction
vsenzyme reaction
  • Specialized
123 3.0

A process where substances change and form new substances

is restricted to changes sped up by catalysts in biochemical processes
chemical reaction
vsenzyme reaction
  • Specialized
24 3.1

A change where substances turn into different substances

is limited to transformations sped up by catalysts in biochemical processes

Surface Forms

enzyme reaction singular
enzyme reactions plural

Morphology

enzyme + reaction

The meaning 'a chemical reaction involving enzymes' is directly and transparently composed from 'enzyme' (a protein that catalyzes reactions) and 'reaction' (a chemical process). This noun-noun scientific compound follows regular compositional naming patterns found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The noun enzyme reaction gives a simple image: an enzyme is like a helpful worker and a reaction is the chemical job they do. The worker makes the job happen faster, so 'enzyme reaction' means a chemical change that the enzyme helps to 'speed up'.