Definition of Free radical
1. Noun. An atom or group of atoms with at least one unpaired electron; in the body it is usually an oxygen molecule that has lost an electron and will stabilize itself by stealing an electron from a nearby molecule. "In the body free radicals are high-energy particles that ricochet wildly and damage cells"
Definition of Free radical
1. Noun. (chemistry) (physics) any molecule, ion or atom that has one or more unpaired electrons; they are generally highly reactive and often only occur as transient species ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Medical Definition of Free radical
1. A chemically active atom or molecular fragment containing a chemical charge due to an excess or deficient number of electrons. Radicals seek to receive or release electrons in order to achieve a more stable configuration, a process that can damage the large molecules within cells. See: Oxidation. (09 Oct 1997)
Free Radical Pictures
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Lexicographical Neighbors of Free Radical
Literary usage of Free radical
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Journal of the American Chemical Society by American Chemical Society (1915)
"Isomerization of the free radical.—The formation of the above-described ...
We next attempted to isolate the unsatura- ted free radical in the solid state ..."
2. Chemical Abstracts by American Chemical Society (1916)
"The colored soin, of the free radical, coned, in COi, yields a colorless ...
form of the free radical. All other attempts to prep, the free radical (by ..."
3. Reviews in Environmental Health (1998): Toxicological Defense Mechanics edited by Gary E. R. Hook, George W. Lucier (2000)
"Vitamin E is an antioxidant and prevents free radical injury caused by methylmercury.
Nutrition and Its Effects on Cadmium Toxicity Cadmium, ..."
4. Oxygen/Nitrogen Radicals and Cellular Injury edited by Kenneth B. Adler, Robert D. Devlin, Val Vallyathan (2000)
"Through free radical reactions, mineral particles activate nuclear ... In vivo
evidence of free radical formation in the rat lung after exposure ..."
5. The Principles of Botany: As Exemplified in the Cryptogamia. For the Use of by Harland Coultas (1853)
"... in having "no free radical extremity;" their roots commingling with and "
contributing to the formation of the wood of the stem on which they grow. ..."
6. The Electronic Conception of Valence and the Constitution of Benzene by Harry Shipley Fry (1921)
"Is it not possible that NO2, in which nitrogen is quadrivalent, exists as a free
radical just as (C8H,,)3C is a free radical in which carbon is ..."
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