• A chemical or drug that is attached to a lipid (fat) that contains phosphorus.
  NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• A lipid (fat) that contains phosphorus. Phospholipids are a major part of cell membranes.
  NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Any lipid that contains phosphorus, including those with a glycerol backbone or a backbone of sphingosine or related substance; these polar lipids are of great importance for the structure and function of cell membranes and are the most abundant of membrane lipids.
  CRISP Thesaurus
  National Institutes of Health, 2006
• Phosphate-containing lipids that are a major component of all cell membranes. Most phospholipids contain a diglyceride, a phosphate group, and a simple organic molecule such as choline. Another type of phospholipid is phosphosphingolipids that contain sphingosine instead of glycerol.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Lipids containing one or more phosphate groups, particularly those derived from either glycerol (phosphoglycerides see GLYCEROPHOSPHOLIPIDS) or sphingosine (SPHINGOLIPIDS). They are polar lipids that are of great importance for the structure and function of cell membranes and are the most abundant of membrane lipids, although not stored in large amounts in the system.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• Phospholipid, any member of a large class of fatlike, phosphorus-containing substances that play important structural and metabolic roles in living cells. The phospholipids, with the sphingolipids, the glycolipids, and the lipoproteins, are called complex lipids, as distinguished from the simple...
  Encyclopedia Britannica
  Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025