cyanide
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
-
any salt of hydrocyanic acid. Cyanides contain the ion CN – and are extremely poisonous
-
another name (not in technical usage) for nitrile
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cyanide
1820–30; cyan- 3 + -ide ( def. )
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:
"In 2006, nearly 2,000 residents suffered from vertigo, sight problems and nausea after it rained in Guney, with blood tests showing cyanide in their blood," he said.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Not only does the extraction of metals like gold involve large amounts of water, but it also uses cyanide and releases other pollutants, posing major environmental and health risks.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
This toxic smoke can include carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026
Dangerous chemicals like mercury and sodium cyanide are used to separate the gold from the ore.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026
“Most of it’s for research on cyanide leaching.”
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Some carbon-containing compounds are not classified as organic, for example, carbonates and cyanides, and simple oxides, such as CO and CO2.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
Opponents have particularly expressed concerns over the 57,000 tonnes of explosives, 46,500 tonnes of cyanides and 142m litres of fuel WWF estimated the company will use over the mine’s 12-year lifespan.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 27, 2018
And after the war, he used his know-how to develop pesticides - including that notorious group of nitrogen-based toxins, the cyanides.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2014
The defendants, accused of dumping acids, cyanides and metals into the rivers, are Pennsylvania Industrial Chemical Corp. and three top steel companies: U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
Huggins had found organic matter in the comets; in subsequent years cyanogen, CN, consisting of a carbon and a nitrogen atom, the molecular fragment that makes cyanides, was identified in the tails of comets.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
In some cases the crushed ore straight from the crushing mill is cyanided, in others it is simply the remains left over from the previous amalgamating process which is thus treated.
From Marvels of Scientific Invention An Interesting Account in Non-technical Language of the Invention of Guns, Torpedoes, Submarine Mines, Up-to-date Smelting, Freezing, Colour Photography, and many other recent Discoveries of Science by Corbin, Thomas W.
Some 25,000 persons yearly visited the prefectural 12-chō experiment station, which within a year had distributed to farmers 7,600 cyanided fruit trees and 80 bushels of special seed rice.
From The Foundations of Japan Notes Made During Journeys Of 6,000 Miles In The Rural Districts As A Basis For A Sounder Knowledge Of The Japanese People by Scott, J.W. Robertson
There are other chemical methods besides the cyaniding, but it is the chief.
From Marvels of Scientific Invention An Interesting Account in Non-technical Language of the Invention of Guns, Torpedoes, Submarine Mines, Up-to-date Smelting, Freezing, Colour Photography, and many other recent Discoveries of Science by Corbin, Thomas W.
The Phelps crowd began to set up a small crusher and cyaniding plant that had been trucked over the trails.
From Ruth Fielding In the Saddle College Girls in the Land of Gold by Emerson, Alice B.
The ore contains free gold, which is extracted by the simple process of stamping and amalgamation, and refractory values, extracted by the cyaniding process.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov" by Various
With mercury, perhaps two or three more dollars' worth can be extracted, and another couple of dollars by cyaniding.
From The Boy With the U.S. Miners by Rolt-Wheeler, Francis
It can be extracted by the cyaniding process.
From Ruth Fielding In the Saddle College Girls in the Land of Gold by Emerson, Alice B.
Definitions 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.
