Definition of "methylene" [meth•yl•ene]

• A bivalent hydrocarbon radical, CH2-, a component of unsaturated hydrocarbons. (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.

• "For example, methylene is linear in its ground state but bent in states of higher energy."
• ""It appears they were boiling a chemical called methylene chloride as they normally do as part of their process," he said."
• ""surfactants" called methylene blue active substances in her well water and her pond."