having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful: an indolent person. 2. Pathology. causing little or no pain; inactive or relatively benign: an indolent ulcer that is not painful and is slow to heal.
A polynucleotide is a nucleic acid molecule consisting of a long chain of nucleotides. Nucleotides in a polynucleotide molecule are held together by a bond between the phosphate group of one nucleotide and the sugar of a second nucleotide, which is called a phosphodiester bond.
This type of bond, in which the electrons tend to spend a lot of time between the two nuclei, is called a covalent bond by chemists. The two electrons involved no longer belong to one atom or the other, but are shared by the two atoms.