Library / English Dictionary

AC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An electric current that reverses direction sinusoidally

Example:

In the US most household current is AC at 60 cycles per second

Synonyms:

AC; alternating current; alternating electric current

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("AC" is a kind of...):

electrical energy; electricity; power (energy made available by the flow of electric charge through a conductor)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A radioactive element of the actinide series; found in uranium ores

Synonyms:

Ac; actinium; atomic number 89

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("Ac" is a kind of...):

chemical element; element (any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter)

Holonyms ("Ac" is a substance of...):

uranium ore (any ore from which uranium can be extracted)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Rubitecan (or 9-nitro-20 (S)-camptothecin) and its active metabolite 9-aminocamptothecin (9-AC) selectively stabilize topoisomerase I-DNA covalent complexes during S-phase, thereby inhibiting religation of topoisomerase I-mediated single-strand DNA breaks and producing potentially lethal double-strand DNA breaks when encountered by the DNA replication machinery.

(Aerosolized Liposomal Rubitecan, NCI Thesaurus)

Also called AC.

(AC regimen, NCI Dictionary)

The subsequent activation of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) increases cGMP. cGMP and cAMP, via agonist activation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), Gs, and adenylate cyclase (AC), activate CNG and/or nonselective cation channels (HCN) channels, which induce membrane depolarization.

(Ion Channels in Vascular Endothelium Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

This time, Mercury will retrograde in your distant travel sector, so when you pack, keep your AC cord with you at the airport so you can work or enjoy your computer if your flight gets delayed and still not use up all the battery strength before you eventually board.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

G-aS-coupled receptors stimulate adenylyl cyclase (AC), which synthesizes cAMP from ATP.

(G-Protein Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Researchers from Harvard University recruited 24 students who slept with air-conditioning and 20 who slept in rooms without AC before, during and after a Boston-area heat wave.

(Hot Dorm Rooms Could Affect Students' Memory, Sadie Witkowski/VOA)

The dorms without AC were louder at night because of fan and street noise, which could have disrupted sleep.

(Hot Dorm Rooms Could Affect Students' Memory, Sadie Witkowski/VOA)