lewisite

American  

[loo-uh-sahyt] / ˈlu əˌsaɪt /

noun

1. a pale yellow, odorless compound, C 2 H 2 AsCl 3 , used as a blister gas in World War I.

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lewisite British  

/ ˈluːɪˌsaɪt /

noun

1. a colourless oily poisonous liquid with an odour resembling that of geraniums, having a powerful vesicant action and used as a war gas; 1-chloro-2-dichloroarsinoethene. Formula: ClCH:CHAsCl 2

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Etymology

Origin of lewisite

1920–25; named after Winford Lee Lewis (1878–1943), American chemist who developed it; see -ite ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lewisite

One woman, a service trainee for the US Air Force, reported being ordered to run through a cloud of the organoarsenic compound lewisite in a “gas acquaintance procedure” during flight training in Houston, Texas.

From Nature ● Jan. 10, 2017

A lewisite plant was erected at Willoughby, Ohio, surrounded by a high fence and heavy guards.

From Time Magazine Archive

Rev. Julius Arthur Nieuwland, father of Duprene and lewisite, was the most eulogized scientist at last week's A. C. S. gathering.

From Time Magazine Archive

Heavier and more persistent than mustard gas, lewisite is an arsenic compound which smells like geraniums, bears the scientific name of beta-chlorvinyldichlorarsine.

From Time Magazine Archive

Standard treatment for burns, whether caused by incendiary bombs, mustard gas or lewisite, is application of tannic-acid dressings.

From Time Magazine Archive