A steroid with one OH (alcohol) group; the systematic name s contain either the prefix hydroxy- or the suffix -ol, e.g., cholesterol, ergosterol.
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ste·rol 'sti(ə)r-.ȯl, 'ste(ə)r-, -.ōl n any of various solid steroid alcohols (as cholesterol) widely distributed in animal and plant lipids
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n.
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ster·ol (sterґol) [stereo- + -ol] any of a group of steroids with a long (8–10 carbons) aliphatic side-chain at position 17 and at least one alcoholic hydroxyl group, usually at position 3; sterols have lipidlike solubility. Examples are cholesterol and ergosterol.Medical dictionary. 2011.