methyl alcohol

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a colorless, volatile, water-soluble, poisonous liquid, CH 4 O, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood or the incomplete oxidation of natural gas, or produced synthetically from carbon monoxide and hydrogen, used chiefly as a solvent, a fuel, and an automobile antifreeze and in the synthesis of formaldehyde.

methyl alcohol

noun

1. another name for methanol

methyl alcohol

1. See methanol

Word History and Origins

Origin of methyl alcohol¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Those stains which are dissolved in methyl-alcohol combine fixation with the staining process.

From Project Gutenberg

The presence of formaldehyde proves that methyl alcohol was in the original extract.

From Project Gutenberg

Methyl alcohol is sometimes used in place of the more expensive spirit alcohol as a solvent for the lemon oil.

From Project Gutenberg

If we use the methyl radicle we get methyl alcohol: if we use the ethyl radicle we get ethyl alcohol.

From Project Gutenberg

Those four atoms are called the methyl group, and a methyl group combined with a hydroxyl group forms methyl alcohol.

From Project Gutenberg