methane series

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. See alkane series.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Chem.) a series of saturated hydrocarbons, of which methane is the first member and type, and (because of their general chemical inertness and indifference) called also the paraffin (little affinity) series. The lightest members are gases, as methane, ethane; intermediate members are liquids, as hexane, heptane, etc. (found in benzine, kerosene, etc.); while the highest members are white, waxy, or fatty solids, as paraffin proper.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a series of non-aromatic saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH(2n+2)