mustard gas

American  

noun

1. an oily liquid, C 4 H 8 Cl 2 S, used as a chemical-warfare gas, blistering the skin and damaging the lungs, often causing blindness and death: introduced by the Germans in World War I.

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mustard gas British  

noun

1. an oily liquid vesicant compound used in chemical warfare. Its vapour causes blindness and burns. Formula: (ClCH 2 CH 2 ) 2 S

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mustard gas Scientific  

/ mŭs′tərd /

1. An oily, volatile liquid that is corrosive to the skin and mucous membranes and causes severe, sometimes fatal respiratory damage. It was introduced in World War I as a chemical warfare agent. Chemical formula: C ₄ H ₈ Cl ₂ S.

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Etymology

Origin of mustard gas

First recorded in 1915–20; so called from its mustard-like odor

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mustard gas

The path to chemotherapy began with a 1943 wartime disaster in Bari, Italy, where sailors exposed to mustard gas showed severely depleted white blood cell counts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

Ms Shemirani's mother tried to blame medical staff for her daughter's death and has previously labelled chemotherapy as "mustard gas".

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025

In the world of Francesca May’s queer gothic fantasy “Wild and Wicked Things,” World War I was epoch-making not for its machine guns and mustard gas, but for its use of magic.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 10, 2022

Other substances and activities listed include HIV and cobalt, which were added in 2016, as well as tobacco smoking, solar radiation, mustard gas, and asbestos.

From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2022

Tested on the fruit fly, the same organism Muller had used in his original work with X-rays, mustard gas also produced mutations.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Related Words

• poison gas
• tear gas