chloroform
/ˈklɒɹə(ʊ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)m/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.79 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A halogenated hydrocarbon, trichloromethane, CHCl₃; it is a volatile, sweet-smelling liquid, used extensively as a solvent and formerly as an anesthetic.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Some assume that chloroform is a gas because it was given by inhalation."
- "If vapour of chloroform be passed over red-hot iron or copper it is entirely decomposed."
- "Geoffrey was first chloroformed, I think. The hand that picked Nipper up to dispose of him had certainly touched chloroform just before. Drugged; does that bring us nearer by taking us further away, I wonder?"
Etymology
Borrowed from French chloroforme, portmanteau of terchloride (tertiary chloride, trichloride) and formyle (CH, an obsolete radical of formic acid) by Jean-Baptiste Dumas, from 1834. By surface analysis, chloro- + -form.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: chloroforme