A type of chemical bond in which atoms are held together in a molecule by sharing one or more pairs of electrons in their outer shells. For example, in the water molecule (H2O) each hydrogen atom forms a covalent bond by sharing its only electron with one of the six electrons in the outer shell of the oxygen atom. Coordinate (or dative) bonds are covalent bonds in which one of the atoms supplies both the electrons. Single bonds are those in which one pair of electrons is shared; in double or triple bonds two or three pairs, respectively, are shared.