hexachloroethane

American

[hek-suh-klawr-oh-eth-eyn, -klohr-] / ˌhɛk səˌklɔr oʊˈɛθ eɪn, -ˌkloʊr- /

noun

a colorless crystalline compound, C 2 Cl 6 , with a camphorlike odor, soluble in alcohol and ether, insoluble in water: used in organic synthesis and pyrotechnics, as a retarding agent in fermentation, and as a solvent.

hexachloroethane British

/ ˌhɛksəˌklɔːrəʊˈɛθeɪn /

noun

a colourless crystalline insoluble compound with a camphor-like odour: used in pyrotechnics and explosives. Formula: C 2 Cl 6

"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

Etymology

Origin of hexachloroethane

First recorded in 1895–1900; hexa- + chloroethane

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.

Water can react with hexachloroethane and zinc oxide to explode and make a bad situation much worse.

From Salon

During the interwar years, scientists stabilized the smoke canister by replacing carbon tetrachloride with hexachloroethane, or HC.

From Salon

Never before in a merger, Dow has a good reason for this one: it wants a West Coast branch,* and Great Western offers that as well as exclusive rights to cheap processes of making chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, hexachloroethane.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023