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Paris green

noun
  1. Chemistry. an emerald-green, poisonous, water-insoluble powder produced from arsenic trioxide and copper acetate: used chiefly as a pigment, insecticide, and wood preservative.
  2. (sometimes lowercase) a variable hue ranging from light to vivid yellow green in color.
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Origin of Paris green

First recorded in 1870–75
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for paris green

Historical Examples of paris green

  • Why will spraying with a poison, such as paris-green, kill these insects?

    Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study

    Ontario Ministry of Education

  • The common rat poisons are Arsenic, Strychnine and Paris-green.

  • If it is a biting insect, that is one that eats the leaf, such as the potato beetle, paris-green should be used.

    Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study

    Ontario Ministry of Education

  • Insect powder is not poisonous to man as is paris-green, and so may be used freely on cabbage or other similar plants.

    Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study

    Ontario Ministry of Education

British Dictionary definitions for paris green

Paris green

noun
  1. an emerald-green poisonous insoluble substance used as a pigment and insecticide. It is a double salt of copper arsenite and copper acetate. Formula: 3Cu(AsO 2) 2 .Cu(C 2 H 3 O 2) 2
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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