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Glite Dictionary
CN gas

CN gas

1 7.0
A type of tear gas used by police that causes eye and skin pain and lasts long
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : gas CN
  • Unlike CS gas, CN gas lingers in the area for a longer time.

Examples

  • During the protests, the police dispersed the crowd with CN gas.

  • Exposure to CN gas caused severe irritation to the eyes and skin.

  • The police used CN gas to disperse the crowd.

  • Many protesters were affected by CN gas during the demonstration.

  • The police used CN gas to disperse the crowd during the protest.

  • In riot situations, CN gas is often deployed as a crowd control measure.

  • After the incident, many people reported irritation due to exposure to CN gas.

Synonyms

tear gas
vsCN gas
15 3.7

A gas that makes people's eyes burn and makes them cry, used by police to break up crowds

is the specific less potent but longer lasting variety used in riots
chloroacetophenone
vsCN gas
  • Specialized
9.9

A chemical used as tear gas that makes your eyes sting and water for a long time

is the general riot-control form rather than a specific chemical
teargas
vsCN gas
5.0

A gas that burns the eyes and makes people cry, used by police to break up crowds

is the particular chemical type with weaker potency but longer duration

Surface Forms

CN gas singular
CN gases plural

Morphology

CN + gas

The element 'CN' is an initialism/technical chemical code rather than a meaningful lexical item, so knowing 'gas' alone does not let a learner infer that this refers to a specific tear‑gas agent or its properties. Because the crucial information rests in an opaque abbreviation and not in compositional semantics, a B1 learner who knows the constituents would not be able to derive the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

CN gas gets its name from the letters 'CN', which were used as a short name for the main chemical in the mixture. Because it was named after that short name, CN gas simply means this kind of 'tear gas' used to control crowds.