chloral

American  

[klawr-uhl] / ˈklɔr əl /

noun

1. Also called trichloroacetaldehyde, trichloroacetic acid aldehyde. a colorless, oily liquid, C 2 Cl 3 HO, having a pungent odor, usually derived by the chlorination of ethyl alcohol or of acetaldehyde and combining with water to form chloral hydrate.

2. Also called chloral hydrate. Pharmacology. a white, crystalline solid, C 2 H 3 Cl 3 O 2 , formed by combining liquid chloral with water: used as a hypnotic.

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chloral British  

/ ˈklɔːrəl /

noun

1. a colourless oily liquid with a pungent odour, made from chlorine and acetaldehyde and used in preparing chloral hydrate and DDT; trichloroacetaldehyde

2. short for chloral hydrate

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Etymology

Origin of chloral

First recorded in 1825–35; chlor- ² + -al ³

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chloral

And the hospital had prescribed the maximum dose of chloral hydrate for the other child, allowing additional doses if needed.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 18, 2023

Luminal, developed in Germany during the last ten years, belongs to the same chemical group of drugs as chloral and veronal.

From Time Magazine Archive

The crude chloral is distilled over lime, and is purified by further treatment with sulphuric acid, and by redistillation.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various

The symptoms of poisoning are not so marked as to make it easy to know that they are caused by chloral.

From How to Care for the Insane A Manual for Nurses by William D. Granger

As an excellent illustration," said Liebig, "of the mode in which errors should be corrected, the investigation of chloral by Dumas may fitly be introduced.

From Heroes of Science Chemists by M. M. Pattison (Matthew Moncrieff Pattison) Muir