pyroligneous acid

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. a yellowish, acidic, water-soluble liquid, containing about 10 percent acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood: used for smoking meats.

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pyroligneous acid British  

noun

1. Also called: wood vinegar.  the crude reddish-brown acidic liquid obtained by the distillation of wood and containing acetic acid, methanol, and acetone

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Etymology

Origin of pyroligneous acid

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

This may be done by causing the animal to inhale the fumes of pyroligneous acid, and by the internal use of bayberry bark.

From Project Gutenberg

Wood is distilled partly for the sake of the pyroligneous acid and the tar, partly for the charcoal.

From Project Gutenberg

The ancient Peruvians appear to have injected and washed the corpses with a fluid that flows from imperfectly burned wood, in which pyroligneous acid, creosote, and other antiseptics are present.

From Project Gutenberg

Although it is clear that pure acetic acid is beyond the scope of an estate, crude pyroligneous acid has been produced on a varying scale in this country and in Ceylon.

From Project Gutenberg

Creosote, like carbolic acid, is a powerful antiseptic, and readily coagulates albuminous matter; wood-smoke and pyroligneous acid or wood-vinegar owe to its presence their efficacy in preserving animal and vegetable substances from putrefaction.

From Project Gutenberg