phenol coefficient

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. the number indicating the effectiveness of a disinfectant as a germicide relative to phenol, which is arbitrarily assigned the number 1: based on the time required to kill a given quantity of a specific type of bacteria.

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Example Sentences

The method described is one that has been in use by the writer for many years past, modified recently by the adoption of some of the recommendations of the Lancet Commission on the Standardisation of Disinfectants—particularly of the calculation for determining the phenol coefficient.

From Project Gutenberg