lewisite

[ loo-uh-sahyt ]

noun
  1. a pale yellow, odorless compound, C2H2AsCl3, used as a blister gas in World War I.

Origin of lewisite

1
1920–25; named after Winford Lee Lewis (1878–1943), American chemist who developed it; see -ite1

Words Nearby lewisite

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lewisite in a sentence

  • It contains a specimen of the deadliest poison ever known, 'lewisite,' the product of an American scientist.

    The Slayer Of souls | Robert Chambers
  • That fellow would get us with his lewisite gas before we could discover and destroy him.

    The Slayer Of souls | Robert Chambers

British Dictionary definitions for lewisite

lewisite

/ (ˈluːɪˌsaɪt) /


noun
  1. a colourless oily poisonous liquid with an odour resembling that of geraniums, having a powerful vesicant action and used as a war gas; 1-chloro-2-dichloroarsinoethene. Formula: ClCH:CHAsCl 2

Origin of lewisite

1
C20: named after W. L. Lewis (1878–1943), US chemist

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012