carbolic

[kahr-bol-ik]

adjective

1. of or derived from carbolic acid.

Other Word Forms

• noncarbolic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of carbolic¹

1860–65; carbol- ( carb- + -ol ² ) + -ic

Example Sentences

In a somewhat less conventional way, she also adored the way Les smelled, and this aroma of salt and musk, accented with a suggestion of leather from the carbolic soap he used at the pool, formed for her a lasting sense of who he was.

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Itching during the drying up of the pustules is almost completely controlled by a soft ointment of beeswax and sweet oil, with a little tannin, opium, and carbolic acid incorporated, which has, moreover, the advantage of rendering the smell less disagreeable.

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An Indian government commission was tasked with investigating, and it discovered that Haffkine had changed the procedure for sterilising the plague vaccine, using heat instead of carbolic acid because it sped up production.

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Apparently it's an obsolete term referring to the use of carbolic acid as a disinfectant to kill germs.

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Starting with Chinatown, earthen basements were concreted, concrete ones flooded with carbolic acid, walls washed with lye, streets asphalted, cesspools filled and decrepit dwellings demolished.

Read more on Nature