1
: any of the alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given locus (see locus sense 3)
2
: either of a pair of alternative Mendelian characters (see character entry 1 sense 1b(3)) (such as smooth and wrinkled seed in the pea)
Examples of allele in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Some of those people stayed in Africa and passed the segments to living Africans; others left and bequeathed the diverse alleles to Neanderthals.
—
science.org, 13 July 2024
Imagine someone whose ancestry is 5% African and 95% European, but who also happened to inherit breast cancer risk alleles that were only found in the African ancestry population.
—Angus Chen, STAT, 21 May 2024
The researchers posited that these correlations could be an evolutionary explanation for why bisexual alleles and behavior persist in the human population.
—Lauren Leffer, Scientific American, 6 Feb. 2024
According to conventional wisdom, having a wider range of MHC alleles increases a litter’s chance of resisting parasites and disease.
—Joann C Gutin, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
See all Example Sentences for allele 
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science.org, 13 July 2024
Imagine someone whose ancestry is 5% African and 95% European, but who also happened to inherit breast cancer risk alleles that were only found in the African ancestry population.
—Angus Chen, STAT, 21 May 2024
The researchers posited that these correlations could be an evolutionary explanation for why bisexual alleles and behavior persist in the human population.
—Lauren Leffer, Scientific American, 6 Feb. 2024
According to conventional wisdom, having a wider range of MHC alleles increases a litter’s chance of resisting parasites and disease.
—Joann C Gutin, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
See all Example Sentences for allele
Dictionary Entries Near allele
Cite this Entry
“Allele.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allele. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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Medical Definition
allele
noun
al·lele
ə-ˈlē(ə)l 
1
: any of the alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given locus
2
: either of a pair of alternative Mendelian characters (as ability versus inability to taste the chemical phenylthiocarbamide)
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