lachrymatory
Americanadjective
noun
-
lachrymatories
plural
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lachrymatory
1650–60; (noun) < Medieval Latin lachrymātōrium, equivalent to lachrymā ( re ) to shed tears + -tōrium -tory 2; (adj.) < Medieval Latin lachrymātōrius, equivalent to lachrymā ( re ) + -tōrius -tory 1; see lachrymal
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:
Onions make us teary because a reaction in the onion releases a chemical called lachrymatory factor, or LF, that irritates our eyes.
From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2017
"What he was proposing to use in Mesopotamia was lachrymatory gas, which is essentially tear gas, not mustard gas."
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2015
The French Physiological Classification;—Asphyxiating Substances;— Toxic Substances;—Chemicals or poison gases were either asphyxiating, toxic, lachrymatory, vesicant, or sternutatory.
From The Riddle of the Rhine; chemical strategy in peace and war by Victor Lefebure
Just before we reached Albert we passed through a cloud of lachrymatory gas, which made me weep copious tears for nearly half an hour.
From Q.6.a and Other places Recollections of 1916, 1917 and 1918 by Francis Buckley
"Here it is," and Coco has presented us with a small opaque lachrymatory, glistening all over in the exquisite irridescence of old glass.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 368, June 1846 by Various
At one point, Christle discovers that the Victorians did not actually collect their tears in glass vials, called lachrymatories; nonetheless, the image gives her a metaphor for her process.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 8, 2020
Farce bottleth up her crocodile tears, or labelleth her empty lachrymatories.
From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 6 Letters 1821-1842 by Mary Lamb
The opening of ancient baths, burial vaults, &c. has led to the finding of tesselated pavements, coins, urns, rings, lachrymatories, seals, monumental inscriptions, medals, statues, chains, sacrificing vessels, &c.
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 12, No. 343, November 29, 1828 by Various
Lachrymatories.—In many ancient places of sepulture we find long narrow phials which are called lachrymatories, and are supposed to have been receptacles for tears: can you inform me on what authority this supposition rests?
From Notes and Queries, Number 51, October 19, 1850 by Various
Among a great number of lachrymatories and various other vessels in the British Museum, there is a small square bottle with a handle, the rudeness of which sufficiently bears out this opinion.
From Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects, and Curiosities of Art, (Vol. 2 of 3) by Shearjashub Spooner
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.
