cross-link

1. 1.

   a side bond that links two adjacent chains of atoms in a complex molecule

   Synonymscross-linkage

   Broaderchemical bond

1. 1.

   join by creating covalent bonds (of adjacent chains of a polymer or protein)

   Broaderjoin

Questions about cross-link

What does cross-link mean?

cross-link means "a side bond that links two adjacent chains of atoms in a complex molecule". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in cross-link?

cross-link has 2 syllables: cros-s-link. The stress falls on "cros".

What is another word for cross-link?

Close synonyms include cross-linkage. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is cross-link a common word?

cross-link is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.