straight chain

1. 1.

   an open chain of atoms with no side chains

   Broaderopen chain

Questions about straight chain

What does straight chain mean?

straight chain means "an open chain of atoms with no side chains".

Is straight chain a common word?

straight chain 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.