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car·bo·hy·drate -.drāt, -drət n any of various neutral compounds of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (as sugars, starches, and celluloses) most of which are formed by green plants and which constitute a major class of animal foods
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n.
any one of a large group of compounds, including the sugar and starch, that contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and have the general formula Cx(H2O)y. Carbohydrates are important as a source of energy: they are manufactured by plants and obtained by animals from the diet, being one of the three main constituents of food (see also fat, protein). All carbohydrates are eventually broken down in the body to the simple sugar glucose, which can then take part in energy-producing metabolic processes. Excess carbohydrate, not immediately required by the body, is stored in the liver and muscles in the form of glycogen. In plants carbohydrates are important structural materials (e.g. cellulose) and storage products (commonly in the form of starch). See also disaccharide, monosaccharide, polysaccharide.
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car·bo·hy·drate (kahr″bo-hiґdrāt) any of a class of aldehyde or ketone derivatives of polyhydric alcohols, particularly of the pentahydric and hexahydric alcohols. They are so named because the hydrogen and oxygen are usually in the proportion to form water, Cn(H2O)n; the most important include the small sugars as well as the large starches, glycogens, celluloses, and gums. See also saccharide.Medical dictionary. 2011.