glycol

[ glahy-kawl, -kol ]

/ ˈglaɪ kɔl, -kɒl /

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noun

Also called ethylene glycol, ethylene alcohol. a colorless, sweet liquid, C2H6O2, used chiefly as an automobile antifreeze and as a solvent.

Also called diol. any of a group of alcohols containing two hydroxyl groups.

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Origin of glycol

First recorded in 1855–60; glyc(erin) + (alcoh)ol

Words nearby glycol

glycogenolysis, glycogenosis, glycogenous, glycogen storage disease, glycogen synthase, glycol, glycolaldehyde, glycolate, glycolic, glycolic acid, glycolic aciduria

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use glycol in a sentence

To see why this is important, consider propyplene glycol, which is used to de-ice aircraft.
Fish blood could hold the answer to safer de-icing solutions during snowstorms|By Monika Bleszynski/The Conversation|February 1, 2021|Popular-Science
One key ingredient of the stuff: Propylene glycol, a synthetic liquid that absorbs water.
Europeans Recall Fireball Whiskey Over a Sweetener Also Used in Antifreeze|Tim Mak|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Propylene glycol is used for a variety of industrial, cosmetic, and food production uses.
Europeans Recall Fireball Whiskey Over a Sweetener Also Used in Antifreeze|Tim Mak|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The European formula for Fireball has even less: under one gram per kilogram of propylene glycol.
Europeans Recall Fireball Whiskey Over a Sweetener Also Used in Antifreeze|Tim Mak|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Propylene glycol has been used as the base for fog machine liquids and in nebulizers for decades.
My (Electronic) Cigarette Addiction|Eli Lake|January 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The major point is that we have no studies that show the safety of propylene glycol when inhaled over the long term.
My (Electronic) Cigarette Addiction|Eli Lake|January 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It may also be prepared by oxidizing the trimethylene glycol obtained by the action of hydrobromic acid on allylbromide.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 1|Various
The water formed and the glycol-chlorhydrine distill over and are collected in tubulated receivers.
Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404|Various
Glycol is heated in a distillery apparatus to 148 C., and a slow current of dry hydrochloric acid passed through it.
Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404|Various
On boiling with water, it decomposes into glycol and trimethylamine.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection|Alexander Wynter Blyth
No glycollic acid, oxalic acid, glycol, or glycerol was produced.
Alcoholic Fermentation|Arthur Harden

British Dictionary definitions for glycol

glycol

/ (ˈɡlaɪkɒl) /

noun

another name (not in technical usage) for ethanediol, diol

Derived forms of glycol

glycolic or glycollic (ɡlaɪˈkɒlɪk), adjective

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

Medical definitions for glycol

glycol

[ glī′kôl′, -kōl′ ]

Any of various alcohols containing two hydroxyl groups.

Ethylene glycol.

Scientific definitions for glycol

glycol

[ glī′kôl′, -kōl′ ]

See ethylene glycol.

Any of various alcohols containing two hydroxyl groups (OH).