carbon monoxide

noun

1. a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas, CO, that burns with a pale-blue flame, produced when carbon burns with insufficient air: used chiefly in organic synthesis, metallurgy, and in the preparation of metal carbonyls, as nickel carbonyl.

carbon monoxide

noun

1. a colourless odourless poisonous flammable gas formed when carbon compounds burn in insufficient air and produced by the action of steam on hot carbon: used as a reducing agent in metallurgy and as a fuel. Formula: CO

Word History and Origins

Origin of carbon monoxide¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

This results in the release of unknown quantities of neurotoxins, carbon monoxide and other chemicals into the air.

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E-cigarettes do not burn tobacco and do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most damaging elements in tobacco smoke.

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The organic waste separates into a flammable gas — made of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen — and a small amount of solid waste.

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A mayor has praised emergency crews for their response to a suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at a takeaway that left one man dead and seven others needing treatment.

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A man has died and seven people have been treated for the suspected effects of carbon monoxide poisoning at a takeaway.

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