purine

Other forms: purines

Definitions of purine

1. noun

   a colorless crystalline organic base containing nitrogen; the parent compound of various biologically important substances
   type of:

   alkali, base

   any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water
2. noun

   any of several bases that are derivatives of purine
   types:

   A, adenine

   (biochemistry) purine base found in DNA and RNA; pairs with thymine in DNA and with uracil in RNA

   G, guanine

   a purine base found in DNA and RNA; pairs with cytosine

   type of:

   alkali, base

   any of various water-soluble compounds capable of turning litmus blue and reacting with an acid to form a salt and water