chloroform

[klawr-uh-fawrm, klohr-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR chloroform ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Also called trichloromethane. Chemistry, Pharmacology. a colorless, volatile, nonflammable, slightly water-soluble, pungent, sweet-tasting liquid, CHCl3, usually derived from acetone, acetaldehyde, or ethyl alcohol by the reaction of chloride of lime: used chiefly in medicine as a solvent and formerly as an anesthetic.

verb (used with object)

to administer chloroform to, especially in order to anesthetize, make unconscious, or kill.

to put chloroform on (a cloth, object, etc.).

Origin of chloroform

First recorded in 1830–40; chloro-² + form(yl)

Related formschlo·ro·for·mic, adjectivepre·chlo·ro·form, verb (used with object)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for chloroform

anesthetic, kill, solvent, toxin, poison

Examples from the Web for chloroform

Contemporary Examples of chloroform

In addition, air tests from the trunk showing high levels of chloroform are expected.
The Case Against Casey
Diane Dimond
May 22, 2011

Historical Examples of chloroform

But the manufacturer was thinking of other things than chloroform.
The Downfall
Emile Zola
The railway and the telegraph, chloroform and applied electricity.
The Stark Munro Letters
J. Stark Munro
Ants show similar symptoms after narcosis by means of chloroform.
Criminal Man
Gina Lombroso-Ferrero
"I guess you won't have to chloroform us to drag us there this time," she retorted.
Miss Pat at School
Pemberton Ginther
I got to go to the drug-store and get some chloroform liniment.
In a Little Town
Rupert Hughes

British Dictionary definitions for chloroform

chloroform

noun

a heavy volatile liquid with a sweet taste and odour, used as a solvent and cleansing agent and in refrigerants: formerly used as an inhalation anaesthetic. Formula: CHCl 3Systematic name: trichloromethane

Word Origin for chloroform

C19: from chloro- + form (yl) (in an obsolete sense that applied to a CH radical)

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

Word Origin and History for chloroform

"trichloromethane," volatile liquid used as an anaesthetic, 1835, from French chloroforme, a hybrid coined 1834 by French chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800-1884) from chlor-, comb. form meaning "chlorine" + formique "formic (acid)" (see formic (adj.)). As a verb, from 1848, the year its anaesthetic properties were discovered. Related: Chloroformed.

chloroform in Medicine

chloroform

[klôr′ə-fôrm′]

n.

A clear, colorless, heavy, sweet-smelling liquid used sometimes as a general anesthetic; it has generally been replaced by less toxic, more easily controlled agents.

chloroform in Science

chloroform

[klôr′ə-fôrm′]

A colorless, toxic, sweet-tasting liquid formed by combining methane with chlorine. It is used as a solvent and was once widely used as an anesthetic. Chemical formula: CHCl3.