Library / English Dictionary

TEARGAS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A gas that makes the eyes fill with tears but does not damage them; used in dispersing crowds

Synonyms:

lachrymator; lacrimator; tear gas; teargas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("teargas" is a kind of...):

chemical weapon (chemical substances that can be delivered using munitions and dispersal devices to cause death or severe harm to people and animals and plants)

gas (a fluid in the gaseous state having neither independent shape nor volume and being able to expand indefinitely)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "teargas"):

chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile; CS gas (a tear gas that is stronger than CN gas but wears off faster; can be deployed by grenades or cluster bombs; can cause skin burns and fatal pulmonary edema)

chloroacetophenone; CN gas (a tear gas that is weaker than CS gas but lasts longer)

nitrochloromethane (gaseous form of chloropicrin used as tear gas)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attack with teargas; subject to teargas fumes

Example:

The students were teargassed during the riot

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "teargas" is one way to...):

gas (attack with gas; subject to gas fumes)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

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