tetraethyl lead

/ ˌtɛtrəˈiːθaɪl lɛd /

noun

1. Systematic name: lead tetraethyl. a colourless oily insoluble liquid used in petrol to prevent knocking. Formula: Pb(C 2 H 5 ) 4

tetraethyl lead

1. A colorless, poisonous, oily liquid, formerly in wide use as an antiknock agent in gasoline for internal-combustion engines. Chemical formula: C ₈ H ₂₀ Pb.

Example Sentences

In 1921, General Motors engineers discovered that tetraethyl lead could make internal combustion engines run more smoothly and reduce engine knock.

Read more on Salon

Similarly, several decades later, the introduction of tetraethyl lead into gasoline raised environmental concerns, but was tolerated as a necessary lubricant for the adoption of the internal combustion engine.

Read more on New York Times

What he needed was a way to compare lead levels in the atmosphere now with the levels that existed before 1923, when tetraethyl lead was introduced.

Read more on Literature

By all accounts, Midgley was a genial man who may even have believed his own spin about the safety of a daily tetraethyl lead handwash.

Read more on BBC

Back then, too, gasoline also contained tetraethyl lead to dampen knocking and increase octane.

Read more on New York Times