DNA

UK: /ˌdiːɛnˈeɪ/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

DNA, n. [uncountable]

1. Genetics deoxyribonucleic acid, a long, double-stranded molecule that is arranged as a double helix and is the main constituent of the chromosome, carrying genes along its strands.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

DNA, [Genetics.]

1. Genetics deoxyribonucleic acid: an extremely long macromolecule that is the main component of chromosomes and is the material that transfers genetic characteristics in all life forms, constructed of two nucleotide strands coiled around each other in a ladderlike arrangement with the sidepieces composed of alternating phosphate and deoxyribose units and the rungs composed of the purine and pyrimidine bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine: the genetic information of DNA is encoded in the sequence of the bases and is transcribed as the strands unwind and replicate. Cf. base pair, gene, genetic code, RNA.

• d(eoxyribo)n(ucleic) a(cid) 1930–35

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

DNA noun

1. deoxyribonucleic acid; a nucleic acid that is the main constituent of the chromosomes of all organisms (except some viruses). The DNA molecule consists of two polynucleotide chains in the form of a double helix, containing phosphate and the sugar deoxyribose and linked by hydrogen bonds between the complementary bases adenine and thymine or cytosine and guanine. DNA is self-replicating, plays a central role in protein synthesis, and is responsible for the transmission of hereditary characteristics from parents to offspring
   See also genetic code
2. in one's DNA ⇒ existing as a fundamental and inseparable part of one’s character: showmanship is in their DNA

DNA abbreviation

1. did not attend