formaldehyde
a colorless, toxic, potentially carcinogenic, water-soluble gas, CH2O, having a suffocating odor, usually derived from methyl alcohol by oxidation: used chiefly in aqueous solution, as a disinfectant and preservative, and in the manufacture of various resins and plastics.
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Origin of formaldehyde
1- Also called methanal.
- Compare formalin.
Words Nearby formaldehyde
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use formaldehyde in a sentence
Made with poliovirus that had been treated with formaldehyde, the virus could no longer cause harm, but the body could still mount an immune response against it.
Epidemics have happened before and they’ll happen again. What will we remember? | Aimee Cunningham | October 27, 2021 | Science NewsAn aged mobile home can be rife with toxic VOCs, including formaldehyde.
Extreme heat is killing people in Arizona’s mobile homes | Karen Peterson | July 2, 2021 | Washington PostThis material contains chemicals including formaldehyde, which has been shown to significantly worsen indoor air quality.
Wildfires Are Getting Worse, So Why Is the U.S. Still Building Homes With Wood? | Alana Semuels | June 2, 2021 | TimeThey transcend the cutting of flesh under the stench of formaldehyde.
You Can’t Dissect a Virtual Cadaver - Issue 99: Universality | Michael Denham | May 5, 2021 | NautilusThe setup also breaks down the asthma-inducing formaldehyde that seeps out of some building materials and cleaning products.
The 8 most helpful new home products of 2020 | By Sandra Gutierrez G. and John Kennedy | December 3, 2020 | Popular-Science
In the raids that accompanied the arrests, police also found jars filled with formaldehyde containing severed fingers.
Damien Hirst suspended sharks and cows in formaldehyde, but Tracey Emin had “the bed.”
Get Into Bed with Tracey Emin for $2 Million: The Sale of a British Art Icon | Tim Teeman | May 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the formaldehyde vitrine, the shirtless dancer meets a fellow prey.
Scarlett Johansson is an Alien Seductress in ‘Under the Skin’ | Jimmy So | April 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHowever studies have found dangerous compounds like benzene and formaldehyde in inhaled or secondhand vapor.
E-Cigarettes, Facing Ban, Still Figuring Out What They Want to Be | Alex Halperin | December 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAny idea why it tasted like some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde?
Guy Fieri Battles Scathing New York Times Review by Pete Wells | Katie Baker | November 16, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTOf the former, salt and sugar are examples; of the latter, formaldehyde and possibly benzoic acid.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterThe substances commonly used are carbolic acid, formalin or formaldehyde, lysol, and bichloride of mercury.
A Civic Biology | George William Hunterformaldehyde, boric acid or salicylic acid may be added to preserve the milk.
Detection of the Common Food Adulterants | Edwin M. BruceA violet coloration at the union of the two liquids indicates the presence of formaldehyde.
Detection of the Common Food Adulterants | Edwin M. BruceIf formaldehyde is present there will be a crimson zone at the plane of union of the solutions.
Detection of the Common Food Adulterants | Edwin M. Bruce
British Dictionary definitions for formaldehyde
/ (fɔːˈmældɪˌhaɪd) /
a colourless poisonous irritating gas with a pungent characteristic odour, made by the oxidation of methanol and used as formalin and in the manufacture of synthetic resins. Formula: HCHO: Systematic name: methanal
Origin of formaldehyde
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for formaldehyde
[ fôr-măl′də-hīd′ ]
A colorless gas having a sharp, suffocating odor. It is used in making plastics and, when dissolved in a solution of water and methanol, to preserve biological specimens. Chemical formula: CH2O.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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