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Glite Dictionary
ethyl chloride

ethyl chloride

1 7.4
A colorless gas used to numb skin for a short time and to make chemicals
  • noun
  • /ˈɛθɪl ˈklɔːrɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cloruro de etilo
  • The dentist used ethyl chloride to numb the area before the procedure.

Examples

  • In the lab, we applied ethyl chloride as a solvent during the chemical reaction.

  • Oh, I must have put too much ethyl chloride in it.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • First, it is recommended that the point of injection be sprayed with ethyl chloride, a topical anesthetic (see Figure 4).

    Academic text (2002)

  • For quick relief, the doctor chose ethyl chloride as a local anesthetic for the minor surgery.

Surface Forms

ethyl chloride singular
ethyl chlorides plural

Morphology

ethyl + chloride

The term is a straightforward chemical compound name formed by combining 'ethyl' (the C2H5 group) and 'chloride' (a chlorine-containing species), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes a chlorine-containing ethyl compound. Although specific properties like flammability or anesthetic use are specialist details, the basic referent as a chemical compound is transparently compositional and predictable.

Etymology

Ethyl chloride comes from how chemists build names: ethyl refers to a small group made of two carbon atoms and chloride shows it has chlorine. So the name tells you it is a small chlorine-containing chemical often used as a quick 'numbing' spray.