tear gas
15
3.7
- noun
- /ˈtɪr ˌɡæs/
:
gas lacrimógeno
- The police used tear gas to disperse the violent crowd at the protest.
- police fired tear gas
- Tear gas was fired
- using tear gas
A haze partly because of the partly because of the tear gas, and partly because I was probably starting to cry.
- A haze partly because of the partly because of the tear gas, and partly because I was probably starting to cry.
- You got the, the, the rubber bullets, the tear gas canisters, all that crap.
- And then the light shines on us and then we hear more tear gas canisters.
- And there was tear gas and police with truncheons and guns and things.
- So I went on YouTube and I looked up every, literally every fucking basic training tear gas video on on YouTube.
Examples
-
The day after the meeting, police once again used tear gas to break up groups of Puerto Ricans.
Academic text (1997) -
Maybe he could smell some of the tear gas too.
Fiction book (1998) -
In the end, the former was just as effective, and no tear gas needs to be used.
Blog text (27) -
Then they started taking flash pictures of us, and then they started using tear gas, so we left.
Academic text (2000) -
We both caught a dose of tear gas.
-
"I can still smell the tear gas," he said, "from the October 1967 march on the Pentagon."
Fiction book (1998) -
Protesters emerged, stumbling from white clouds of tear gas, coughing and covering their faces with scarves.
Blog text (34) -
During the riot, the officers deployed tear gas to control the situation.
-
After the demonstration, many people experienced irritation from the tear gas used by law enforcement.
Synonyms
57
4.4
A chemical that makes eyes water and people cough to make crowds move away
3
7.9
A strong chemical spray used by police that makes people cry and cough
1
9.5
A gas that makes the eyes water and sting
1
7.0
A type of tear gas used by police that causes eye and skin pain and lasts long
A gas that burns the eyes and makes people cry, used by police to break up crowds
A gas or spray that makes your eyes water and sting, often used by police
A chemical used as tear gas that makes your eyes sting and water for a long time
A gas used to make people cry and have trouble breathing
How Forceful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a gas that causes tearing/eye irritation' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'tear' (teardrop/crying) with 'gas' (a gaseous substance) following the common noun–noun modifier pattern. This composition is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'gas lacrimógeno', French 'gaz lacrymogène'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The noun tear gas comes from a simple image: a gas that makes people cry and brings out tears. That's why today it means 'a gas used to make people cry' and is often used by police to clear crowds.