chemical
Americannoun
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chemicals
plural
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a substance produced by or used in a chemical process.
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Slang. chemicals, narcotic or mind-altering drugs or substances.
adjective
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of, used in, produced by, or concerned with chemistry or chemicals.
a chemical formula; chemical agents.
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used in chemical warfare.
chemical weapons.
noun
adjective
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of or used in chemistry
chemical balance
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of, made from, or using chemicals
chemical fertilizer
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonchemicaladjective
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prechemicaladjective
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pseudochemicaladjective
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semichemicaladjective
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superchemicaladjective
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unchemicaladjective
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chemicallyadverb
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semichemicallyadverb
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superchemicallyadverb
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unchemicallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of chemical
Explanation
A chemical is any mix of raw elements: hydrogen + oxygen produce the chemical water. Water is created by a change in the chemistry of hydrogen and oxygen atoms — a chemical change. Be cautious of the negative reaction people have to chemical substances. Chemicals often bring to mind deadly substances, such as asbestos or deadly chemical weapons. But many chemicals are part of our everyday life. Our lives would be drastically different without chemical compounds — think of the infection that would result if we didn't have the chemical hydrogen peroxide for cleaning out cuts.
Vocabulary lists containing chemical
Matter and Energy 1: Atoms and Molecules
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Chemical Reactions - Introductory
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"Handle with Care"
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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:
To recoup some of their considerable investment, plants break down chlorophyll, then draw its chemical components and other nutrients through the stem and into the trunk and roots for later reuse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Rather than expecting microorganisms to break down materials that are naturally resistant to decomposition, scientists could develop plastics with chemical structures that make biological recycling possible.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
Some bacteria produce beta-lactamases that disable antibiotics such as penicillin by breaking open a critical part of their chemical structure, known as the beta-lactam ring.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
Police allege the 43-year-old woman - who hasn't been named - visited a chemical storage shed before returning to the staffroom where the curry was kept.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
Schrödinger imagined a chemical with multiple chemical bonds stretching out along the length of the “chromosome fiber.”
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The largest revision was in the refining and chemicals unit, with an $1.5 billion increase to reflect the capture of higher margins and robust oil trading, she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The windfall isn’t isolated to its refining and chemicals division–a jump in gas prices, strong oil and gas trading, and elevated oil prices have all combined to set TotalEnergies up for a bumper third quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
One promising approach to recycling carbon dioxide is hydrogenation, which uses a catalyst to help CO2 react with hydrogen and form chemicals such as methanol.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
Melrose Industries said its GKN Aerospace unit reached a $125 million settlement with authorities in California relating to a chemicals case, and that it expects to restart operations at the site this quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Big doors opened on the bottom of the plane, and a ruby-red cloud of chemicals poured out, coating the green trees.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
