acetic acid

noun

Chemistry.

1. a colorless, pungent, water-miscible liquid, C 2 H 4 O 2 , the essential constituent of vinegar, produced by oxidation of acetaldehyde, bacterial action on ethyl alcohol, the reaction of methyl alcohol with carbon monoxide, and other processes: used chiefly in the manufacture of acetate fibers and in the production of numerous esters that are solvents and flavoring agents.

acetic acid

noun

1. Systematic name: ethanoic acid. a colourless pungent liquid, miscible with water, widely used in the manufacture of acetic anhydride, vinyl acetate, plastics, pharmaceuticals, dyes, etc. Formula: CH 3 COOH See also glacial acetic acid vinegar

acetic acid

1. A clear, colorless organic acid having a distinctive pungent odor. It is used as a solvent and in the manufacture of rubber, plastics, acetate fibers, pharmaceuticals, and photographic chemicals. Acetic acid is the chief acid of vinegar. Chemical formula: C ₂ H ₄ O ₂ .

Word History and Origins

Origin of acetic acid¹

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

One of the compounds, acetic acid, had never before been definitively observed in space ice, while the others -- ethanol, methyl formate, and acetaldehyde -- were detected in ices outside the Milky Way for the first time.

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Birch also cites an experiment in which lidocaine was used to relieve experimentally-induced pain from an injection of acetic acid in an octopus.

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A low-cost, tin-based catalyst can selectively convert carbon dioxide to three widely produced chemicals -- ethanol, acetic acid and formic acid.

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This resulted in a multi-stage cascade of enzymatic reactions that ultimately converts alcohol into acetic acid.

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Bacteria, colored blue, metabolize sugars and release byproducts such as lactic acid and acetic acid.

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