Definition of "clathrate" []

• Biology Having a latticelike structure or appearance: clathrate foliage. (adjective)
• Chemistry Of or relating to inclusion complexes in which molecules of one substance are completely enclosed within the crystal structure of another. (adjective)
• Chemistry A clathrate compound, such as urea. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Methane hydrate is a form of water ice that contains a large amount of methane within its crystal structure, called a clathrate hydrate."
• "That's called a clathrate --- Latin for a "cage, trellis, or grating" -- and all kinds of things can be held in there."
• "Another method involves exchanging the methane molecules in the "clathrate" structure with carbon dioxide."