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carbon cycle definition

carbon cycle

  1. the cycle by which plants through photosynthesis use atmospheric carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates, which are in turn metabolized by animals to decomposition products that return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere
  2. a cyclic series of thermonuclear reactions in the interior of some stars, involving carbon as a catalyst and producing large quantities of energy by the transformation of hydrogen into helium
    also called carbon-nitrogen cycle car′bon-ni′trogen cycle

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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