noun Chemistry.
- a compound formed by removing water from a more complex compound: an oxide of a nonmetal (acid anhydride) or a metal (basic anhydride) that forms an acid or a base, respectively, when united with water.
- a compound from which water has been abstracted.
noun
- a compound that has been formed from another compound by dehydration
- a compound that forms an acid or base when added to water
- Also called: acid anhydride, acyl anhydride any organic compound containing the group -CO.O.CO- formed by removal of one water molecule from two carboxyl groups
n.
- A chemical compound formed from another by the removal of water.
- A chemical compound formed from another, especially an acid, by the removal of water.