mephitis
Americannoun
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(in nontechnical use) a noxious or pestilential exhalation from the earth, as poison gas.
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any noisome or poisonous stench.
Etymology
Origin of mephitis
1700–10; < Latin mephītis, mefītis; compare Oscan Mefit ( eí ) the goddess of such exhalations
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.
I know that a skunk's Latin name is Mephitis mephitis, and that skunks should not be confused with polecats.
From SAT Tests
Instantly a cone of black mephitis shot forth, a loathsome, bituminous stream of putrefaction that reeked of the grave and the cesspool, of the utmost reaches of decay before the dust accepts the disintegrated atoms.
From Astounding Stories of Super-Science February 1930 by Bates, Harry
Come along with me, and get the mephitis blown out of you.
From The Whirlpool by Gissing, George
The odor of corruption, the saeva mephitis, has by this time exhaled.
From Theological Essays and Other Papers — Volume 1 by De Quincey, Thomas
Azote is one of the most abundant elements; combined with caloric it forms azotic gas, or mephitis, which composes nearly two thirds of the atmosphere.
From Elements of Chemistry, In a New Systematic Order, Containing all the Modern Discoveries by Lavoisier, Antoine
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.
