chloral

[ klawr-uhl, klohr- ]

/ ˈklɔr əl, ˈkloʊr- /

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noun

Also called trichloroacetaldehyde, trichloroacetic acid aldehyde. a colorless, oily liquid, C2Cl3HO, having a pungent odor, usually derived by the chlorination of ethyl alcohol or of acetaldehyde and combining with water to form chloral hydrate.

Also called chloral hydrate. Pharmacology. a white, crystalline solid, C2H3Cl3O2, formed by combining liquid chloral with water: used as a hypnotic.

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Origin of chloral

First recorded in 1825–35; chlor-² + -al³

Words nearby chloral

Chloe, chlor-, chloracetic acid, chloracetophenone, chloracne, chloral, chloral hydrate, chloralose, chlorambucil, chloramine, chloramphenicol

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use chloral in a sentence

You don't know how they laugh at you in Paris for always painting morphinomanes and chloral drinkers.
December Love|Robert Hichens
Bayard sent for a doctor, who prescribed chloral, and said the case was serious.
A Singular Life|Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Some preparation of chloral, I should think; smells and looks like it.
Peter|F. Hopkinson Smith
Bernheim and many others of the French school have used chloral and morphine.
Psychotherapy|James J. Walsh

I thought perhaps some bromide, or chloral, or something of the kind might do me good.
The Last of the Legions and Other Tales of Long Ago|Arthur Conan Doyle

British Dictionary definitions for chloral

chloral

/ (ˈklɔːrəl) /

noun

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

short for chloral hydrate

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