1. substances that are not compounds; elements or mixtures that do not consist of two or more different elements chemically combined
Usage: chemistry; plural form

Examples

• The lab separated the compounds from the noncompounds in the mixture.
• Oxygen and nitrogen are noncompounds found in air.
• Students learned to distinguish between compounds and noncompounds.
• The periodic table lists all the noncompounds known to science.
• Gold and silver are examples of noncompounds in their pure form.
• The experiment focused on identifying noncompounds in the sample.