luminol
/ˈluːmɪnɒl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.77 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The compound 5-amino-2,3-dihydro-1,4-phthalazinedione, which exhibits blue chemiluminescence when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent.
Countable; Uncountable
verb
To test or subject a sample or an individual to a luminol agent in order to locate traces of blood.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The board was fully supportive, Mr. McDevitt said, even when Mr. Wheeler needed to buy a gallon of cow’s blood and a supply of luminol, a blood-detection chemical."
- "Luminoling of material can establish unequivocally that no blood is present."
- "For two nights Patterson, Frosch, and Nabors Luminoled the house, checking and re-checking the evidence they found."
- "Perhaps the auto warrant had gone through and the vehicle was being raked and combed and vacuumed and luminoled in some forensic garage."
- "The crime scene unit was all over the apartment, photographing, luminoling, vacuuming, plucking with tweezers."
- "Lester brings the hard-shelled golf bag in and Grissom luminols the interior of the case. The whole case fluouresces briefly then immediately fades, indicating the insides were bleached."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈluːmɪnɒl/
- British English: /ˈljuːmɪnɒl/