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hydrophobic Definition

hydro·pho·bic (-fōbik)

adjective

  1. of or having hydrophobia
  2. not capable of uniting with or absorbing water
Also hydrophobe hy′·dro·phobe′ (-fōb′)
hydrophobic Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • residue: This simple model captures the trend for hydrophobic residues to occupy the core sites within proteins.
  • ligand: Perhaps a larger hydrophobic ligand could do a better job?
  • probe: In fact glucose is not a suitable molecule for demonstrating the use of the hydrophobic Probe in conjunction with Program Group.
  • interaction: The main target for hydrophobic interaction in the major groove of DNA is the single methyl group of the T base.
  • molecule: This Hydrophobic Probe ( which we will call HP ) represents a hydrophobic molecule approaching the surface of the Target.
  • tail: An amphiphile is a chemical species whose molecules consist of a hydrophobic tail attached to a hydrophilic head.

Modifying Another Word

  • very: The crystalline regions are very hydrophobic which aids the loss of water during solidification of spider silk.
  • largely: The largely hydrophobic R-groups of a membrane-spanning a -helix contact the hydrophobic membrane core, while the more polar peptide backbone is buried.
  • highly: The plots show the ligand's Trp 252 residue nestling in the highly hydrophobic specificity pocket of the enzyme's active site.
  • strongly: Alumina substrates can also be used to produce chemically stable, strongly hydrophobic surfaces.
  • relatively: Fusion peptides are short, relatively hydrophobic sequences that are well conserved within, but not between, virus families.
  • mainly: The inter-domain contacts are mainly hydrophobic, suggesting that the two domains are unlikely to be stable on their own.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: When the charge is reversed and the surface becomes hydrophobic, the pixel takes on the color of the dyed oil.