chromosome: Meaning and Definition of

chro•mo•some

Pronunciation: (krō'mu-sōm"), [key]
— n. Genetics.
  1. any of several threadlike bodies, consisting of chromatin, that carry the genes in a linear order: the human species has 23 pairs, designated 1 to 22 in order of decreasing size andandfor the female and male sex chromosomes respectively.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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