urea
    n 1: the chief solid component of mammalian urine; synthesized
         from ammonia and carbon dioxide and used as fertilizer and
         in animal feed and in plastics [syn: urea, carbamide]

Urea \U"re*a\, a. [NL. See Urine.] (Physiol. Chem.)
   A very soluble crystalline body which is the chief
   constituent of the urine in mammals and some other animals.
   It is also present in small quantity in blood, serous fluids,
   lymph, the liver, etc.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: It is the main product of the regressive metamorphosis
         (katabolism) of proteid matter in the body, and is
         excreted daily to the amount of about 500 grains by a
         man of average weight. Chemically it is carbamide,
         CO(NH2)2, and when heated with strong acids or
         alkalies is decomposed into carbonic acid and ammonia.
         It unites with acids to form salts, as nitrate of urea,
         and it can be made synthetically from ammonium cyanate,
         with which it is isomeric.
         [1913 Webster]

   Urea ferment, a soluble ferment formed by certain bacteria,
      which, however, yield the ferment from the body of their
      cells only after they have been killed by alcohol. It
      causes urea to take up water and decompose into carbonic
      acid and ammonia. Many different bacteria possess this
      property, especially Bacterium ureae and Micrococcus
      ureae, which are found abundantly in urines undergoing
      alkaline fermentation.
      [1913 Webster]