carbolic acid

British

/ kɑːˈbɒlɪk /

noun

another name for phenol, esp when it is used as an antiseptic or disinfectant

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

carbolic acid Scientific

/ kär-bŏl′ĭk /

See phenol

Etymology

Origin of carbolic acid

C19: carbolic, from _carbo- + _-ol ¹ + _-ic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He explained that when he washed open wounds with carbolic acid, fewer patients died.

From Literature

The wounds were cauterized with carbolic acid and sterilized with alcohol.

From Literature

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.

From BBC

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

From BBC

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.

From Nature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023