mercaptan
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of mercaptan
1825–35; < Latin, short for phrase corpus mercurium captāns body capturing quicksilver
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.
Piedmont Natural Gas said the cleanup company, Legacy Environmental Services, was destroying mercaptan tanks north of downtown Charlotte that were mistakenly reported as empty, The Charlotte Observer reported.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 14, 2022
The CAA has also ordered the gas companies to add the pungent ethyl mercaptan to the gas cylinders to make it easier to smell gas leaks.
From Reuters ● Dec. 8, 2021
Ms. Clayton-Tarvin talked about the area’s layout of gas lines, the trajectory of the smell’s spread and her sense in the odor of a hint of mercaptan — a natural gas additive.
From New York Times ● Dec. 16, 2016
Lucy’s hell stems from the nauseating, rotten-egg stench of mercaptan, a chemical that is added to natural gas to give it its distinctive order.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2016
An average man can detect just a few molecules of butyl mercaptan, and most of us can sense the presence of musk in vanishingly small amounts.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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