WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

ribonucleic acid
    n 1: (biochemistry) a long linear polymer of nucleotides found
         in the nucleus but mainly in the cytoplasm of a cell where
         it is associated with microsomes; it transmits genetic
         information from DNA to the cytoplasm and controls certain
         chemical processes in the cell; "ribonucleic acid is the
         genetic material of some viruses" [syn: ribonucleic acid,
         RNA]