| a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas, CO, that burns with a pale-blue flame, produced when carbon burns with insufficient air: used chiefly in organic synthesis, metallurgy, and in the preparation of metal carbonyls, as nickel carbonyl. |
| carbon monoxide n. A colorless, odorless, highly poisonous gas, CO, formed by the incomplete combustion of carbon or a carbonaceous material, such as gasoline. |
A compound made up of molecules containing one carbon atom and one oxygen atom.
Note: Carbon monoxide is usually formed when materials burn; it is found, for example, in automobile exhaust.
Note: Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can be fatal to human beings if inhaled.
carbon monoxide n.
A colorless, odorless, highly poisonous gas that is formed by the incomplete combustion of carbon or of a carbonaceous material, such as gasoline.
| carbon monoxide
A colorless, odorless gas formed when a compound containing carbon burns incompletely because there is not enough oxygen. It is present in the exhaust gases of automobile engines and is very poisonous. Chemical formula: CO. |