• A type of chemical substance used in perfumes, paints, solvents, and found in essential oils (scented liquid taken from plants). Ketones are also made by the body when there is not enough insulin.
  NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Functional group of an organic compound in which a carbon atom is double-bonded to an oxygen; neither of the other substituents attached to the carbon can be a hydrogen.
  CRISP Thesaurus
  National Institutes of Health, 2006
• Organic compounds with a carbonyl group (C=O) bonded to two other carbon atoms as the skeleton structure. Acetone is the simplest ketone compound.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Organic compounds containing a carbonyl group =C=O bonded to two hydrocarbon groups.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• Substances produced when the body burns fat for energy or when the body doesn't have enough insulin.
  Harvard Dictionary of Health Terms
  Harvard Medical Publishing, 2011
• Acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetone are ketone bodies. In carbohydrate-deficient states, fatty-acid metabolism spurs acetoacetate accumulation.
  Medscape
  WebMD, 2025