Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A colorless organic liquid, C3H4O3, formed as an intermediate in carbohydrate metabolism and fermentation and as an end product in glycolysis.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a colourless liquid; an important intermediate in the metabolism of proteins and carbohydrates, and in fermentation
  • noun chemistry the simplest aliphatic keto acid, CH3COCOOH

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a colorless acid formed as an important intermediate in metabolism or fermentation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[pyr(o)– + Latin ūva, grape (from its being produced by the dry distillation of racemic acid, originally derived from grapes) + –ic.]

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