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carbolic acid

British  
/ kɑːˈbɒlɪk /

noun

  1. 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-bŏlĭk /
  1. 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.

See Examples For:

The smell was dubbed the Great Stink, and carbolic acid, another disinfectant, was poured into the river to alleviate the problem.

From Textbooks Dec. 14, 2022

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 Dec. 10, 2020

Conan Doyle references Lister's use of carbolic acid for antisepsis in the 1892 story 'The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb', when Watson uses it while dressing a wound.

From Nature Sep. 19, 2017

Blue’s team treated houses and streets with chlorinated lime and carbolic acid; took down dilapidated buildings and ramshackle housing additions; and trapped and poisoned rats.

From Slate Oct. 15, 2015

For that reason, he urged doctors to wash their hands thoroughly and to sterilize hands and surgical instruments with carbolic acid.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

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