Word.ws English Dictionary

alpha-gal

alpha-gal noun: a carbohydrate found in most mammalian cell membranes.

Noun (1)

alpha-gal (uncountable)

  1. A carbohydrate found in most mammalian cell membranes.
    • When certain ticks bite humans, they can transfer alpha-gal into the bloodstream, causing their victims to develop a severe response to red meat consumption.2025 March 24, Diana Bruk, “What is alpha-gal syndrome? New concern about bizarre red meat allergy linked to ticks”, in New York Post

Noun (2) capitalized: alpha-GAL

alpha-GAL (uncountable)

  1. (abbreviation) Abbreviation of α-Galactosidase.
    Synonyms:
    α-GAL

Synonyms of alpha-gal

Words formed from alpha-gal

Questions about alpha-gal

What does alpha-gal mean?
Alpha-gal means a carbohydrate found in most mammalian cell membranes.
What part of speech is alpha-gal?
Alpha-gal is a noun.

Words near alpha-gal in the dictionary

  1. alpha-dogging
  2. alpha-dogs
  3. alpha-ed up
  4. alpha-fetoprotein
  5. alpha-foetoprotein
  6. alpha-gal
  7. alpha-gal allergy
  8. alpha-gal syndrome
  9. alpha-hydroxy acid
  10. alpha-hydroxy acids
  11. alpha-hydroxyprogesterone

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: alpha-gal (page history and authors); alpha-GAL (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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