• A class of hydrocarbon-containing organic compounds. Lipids are insoluble in water but soluble in nonpolar solvents and play important roles in living organisms: these roles include functioning as energy storage molecules, serving as structural components of cell membranes, and constituting important signaling molecules. Lipids can be subdivided into 2 groups: fatty acids and glycerides.
  NCI Thesaurus
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Any of a class of hydrophobic biochemicals including fats, long- chain fatty acids, steroids, oils, and waxes.
  CRISP Thesaurus
  National Institutes of Health, 2006
• A generic term for fats and lipoids, the alcohol-ether-soluble constituents of protoplasm, which are insoluble in water. They comprise the fats, fatty oils, essential oils, waxes, phospholipids, glycolipids, sulfolipids, aminolipids, chromolipids (lipochromes), and fatty acids. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
• Fats, oils, and waxes that serve as building blocks for cells or as energy sources. Lipids are also capable of accumulating in the artery walls to form plaque.
  Harvard Dictionary of Health Terms
  Harvard Medical Publishing, 2011
• Lipid, any of a diverse group of organic compounds including fats, oils, hormones, and certain components of membranes that are grouped together because they do not interact appreciably with water. One type of lipid, the triglycerides, is sequestered as fat in adipose cells, which serve as the...
  Encyclopedia Britannica
  Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020