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NAPHTHALENE
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A white crystalline strong-smelling hydrocarbon made from coal tar or petroleum and used in organic synthesis and as a fumigant in mothballs
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("naphthalene" is a kind of...):
hydrocarbon (an organic compound containing only carbon and hydrogen)
Holonyms ("naphthalene" is a substance of...):
camphor ball; mothball (a small sphere of camphor or naphthalene used to keep moths away from stored clothing)
coal tar (a tar formed from distillation of bituminous coal; coal tar can be further distilled to give various aromatic compounds)