|glisər+ noun
: a sweet crystalline compound that exists in solution as the monomeric dihydroxy aldehyde HOCH 2 CHOHCHO in dextrorotatory, levorotatory, and racemic forms but in the anhydrous state only as the crystalline dimer C 6 H 12 O 6 , that is formed as an intermediate in carbohydrate metabolism by the breakdown of sugars, that yields glycerol on reduction, and that may be regarded as a triose and the simplest aldose capable of existing in both d- and l -stereoisomeric forms, which serve as reference standards for differentiating the stereoisomeric forms of all other sugars and also of other stereoisomeric compounds — called also glyceric aldehyde, glycerose ; compare glucose 1, structural formula