carbons
SayKAR-buhnzUS/ˈkɑɹ.bənz/UK/ˈkɑːbənz/
- 1Plural of carbon.
A long chain of carbons forms the backbone of the molecule.
Clerks once stored the carbons of every signed contract in steel cabinets.
Note
A plural that only the countable meanings of carbon can take. Chemists use it to count atoms (a ring of six carbons, the third carbon in a chain). In informal office use it means carbon copies or sheets of carbon paper. The element as a substance stays uncountable, so graphite and diamond are forms of carbon, not two carbons.
carbons is a form of carbon
carbon, noun: The chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6, found as graphite and diamond and in all living things; also, a single atom of it. Full entry
- Forms
- carboncarbons plural
- Spelling
- carbon → carbons: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /z/.
Use it in a sentence
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