nitrile

American

[nahy-tril, -treel, -trahyl] / ˈnaɪ trɪl, -tril, -traɪl /

noun

Chemistry.

any of a class of organic compounds with the general formula RC≡N.

nitrile British

/ ˈnaɪtrɪl, -traɪl /

noun

Also called (not in technical usage): cyanide. any one of a class of organic compounds containing the monovalent group -CN

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

nitrile Scientific

/ nī′trəl /

An organic compound, such as acrylonitrile, containing the cyanide group CN. Nitriles are typically colorless solids or liquids and have a distinctive smell.

Etymology

Origin of nitrile

1840–50; nitr- + -ile, perhaps variant of -yl

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.

See Examples For:

nitrile

According to the agency, in early 2021 he was paid more than $3.18m for an order of nitrile gloves to be sent to US hospitals that were never delivered.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Costs have been affected "across the board", including the price of condom material nitrile latex and natural rubber.

From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026

Tight nitrile butadiene rubber supply and stricter supplier terms are expected to drive industry consolidation, favoring larger players, he adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

To investigate further, the researchers tested seven different types of gloves, including nitrile, latex, and cleanroom varieties, along with commonly used methods for identifying microplastics.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026

This process is the exact reverse of the nitrile synthesis, described above.

From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Thatcher, Roscoe Wilfred

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023