polyacrylamide: Meaning and Definition of

pol•y•a•cryl•a•mide

Pronunciation: (pol"ē-u-kril'u-mīd", -mid, -ak"ru-lam'īd, -id), [key]
— n. Chem.
  1. a white, solid, water-soluble polymer of acrylamide, used in secondary oil recovery, as a thickening agent, a flocculant, and an absorbent, and to separate macromolecules of different molecular weights.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.