pepper spray

noun

1. an aerosol spray that temporarily irritates the eyes and mucous membranes, used to stun and incapacitate a person or animal:

   police use of pepper spray to control rioters.

pepper spray

noun

1. a defence spray agent derived from hot cayenne peppers, which causes temporary blindness and breathing difficulty, sometimes used to control riots

Word History and Origins

Origin of pepper spray¹

First recorded in 1985–90; the active ingredient is capsaicin, extracted from capsicum peppers

Example Sentences

When the girl keeps refusing to swing her legs inside, one officer pulls out his pepper spray.

From Washington Post

According to the Justice Department report, Immigration and Customs Enforcement granted several waivers to Otay Mesa, including one that permits the use of chemical agents other than pepper spray.

From Voice of San Diego

The young man keeps trying to show him his video clip of the pepper spray.

From ProPublica

Video footage seemed to show him putting her in the way of pepper spray, for example.

From MIT Technology Review

As the protests continued and grew, guards began responding with pepper spray, which can make the respiratory tract more susceptible to infection.

From Washington Post

Although some groups, through the thick fog of tear gas, pepper spray and smoke that hung over the city, still lingered.

From The Daily Beast

He was captivated by footage of her escape through the hazy entryway of the supermarket, which was obscured by pepper spray.

From The Daily Beast

The police responded with pepper spray—not tear gas or rubber bullets or tanks or curfews.

From The Daily Beast

And writing on the pavement reads: “You did not need to use pepper spray to make us weep, we are emotional people.”

From The Daily Beast

On the shutters of a cosmetics store someone has written, “Pepper spray is good for the skin.”

From The Daily Beast

It was a little stainless-steel aerosol canister that looked for all the world like a pepper-spray self-defense unit.

From Project Gutenberg

The cops were running for them, batons out, pepper-spray out.

From Project Gutenberg

He turned it and let the door crash open as two cops in riot-visors came through, pepper-spray at the fore.

From Project Gutenberg

The pepper spray seemed to have cleared out his sinuses and given him back some of his hearing.

From Project Gutenberg