Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A water-soluble compound, CO(NH2)2, that is the major nitrogenous end product of protein metabolism and is the chief nitrogenous component of the urine in mammals and other organisms. Also called carbamide.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. It is the most important nitrogenous waste product of the mammalian organism. It is an acid amide, its solutions presenting a neutral reaction. It can combine with acids to form crystalline, salt-like products, and is decomposed by sodium hypobromite and the hypochlorite with the liberation of carbon dioxid, nitrogen, and water. On heating the substance ammonia is given off and biuret formed.
- n. Carbamide, CO.(NH2)2, a crystalline solid, soluble in water, and forming crystalline compounds with both acids and bases. It is the final product of the proteid decomposition in the body, and forms the chief solid constituent of the urine of mammals. It appears also in the urine of birds.
Wiktionary
- n. A water-soluble organic compound, CO(NH2)2, formed by the metabolism of proteins and excreted in the urine.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. A very soluble crystalline body which is the chief constituent of the urine in mammals and some other animals. It is also present in small quantity in blood, serous fluids, lymph, the liver, etc.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the chief solid component of mammalian urine; synthesized from ammonia and carbon dioxide and used as fertilizer and in animal feed and in plastics
Etymologies
- New Latin, from French urée, from urine, urine, from Old French, from Latin ūrīna; see urine.
Examples
“CVR Partners is planning to use a portion of the proceeds from the IPO to expand production capacity of a higher-margin nitrogen fertilizer known as urea ammonium nitrate, or UAN.”
The Wall Street Journal: Golar LNG Partners, CVR Gain in Debuts
“To get this we need to expend large amounts of energy, i.e. fossil fuels, to pull stable nitrogen out of the air and convert it to ammonia (if the fertilizer will be sprayed) and further to urea, which is a solid granule to be spread.”
Global Warming and the Minefield of Unintended Consequences - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com
“The AdBlue system uses the SRC catalyst and a tank of liquid urea, which is misted into the exhaust stream.”
Consumer Reports: How Mercedes’ BlueTec works, and the 2009 clean-diesel SUVs to come
“I can cause urinary tract infections by breaking a chemical called urea into little bits.”
“The urine is collected by the fertilizer industry from farmyard waste and refined into pure urea, which is then sold to be used in the new engine.”
“And sharks, skates, and rays use a different substance: slightly salty and bitter urea, which is what animals generally turn protein waste into in order to excrete it.”
Simon & Schuster: On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
“In doing so, it forms a waste product called urea.”
“As I said earlier, ammonia, a toxic chemical produced in the intestines when we digest foods, finds its way to the liver, where it is converted to a substance called urea that can be excreted by the kidneys.”
“During the process, the nitrogen-containing molecules that are left are processed by the liver into urea, which is excreted by the kidneys.”
“This ash takes chiefly the form of a compound known as urea, which finds its way into the general circulatory system.”
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