prussic acid
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of prussic acid
1780–90; translation of French acide prussique (equivalent to Prusse Prussia + -ique -ic ); so called because it was first obtained by heating Prussian blue with sulfuric acid
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.
In the early 1900s, buyers had to sign for drugs they bought from a chemist, but the prosecution pointed out that the signature for the prussic acid didn't match the one on Orme's letters.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2024
Woolen and silk clothes, rugs and furnishings produce prussic acid and ammonia as well as carbon monoxide and dioxide.
From Time Magazine Archive
Following the trail of a prussic acid theft, Sergeant Bell of Scotland Yard blunders his way into an inspectorship, following his self-denied solution of the crime.
From Time Magazine Archive
I've a taste in my mouth as if I had swallowed saltpetre and sulphur, with a dash of prussic acid.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 57, No. 351, January 1845 by Various
On the other hand, there is—except in the case of prussic acid and nicotine—no death straight away after taking poison, as one sees it on the stage, Shakespeare notwithstanding.
From The Harmsworth Magazine, v. 1, 1898-1899, No. 2 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
