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formaldehyde

formaldehyde

26 6.8
A colorless poisonous gas with a strong smell used to preserve things like lab samples and make chemicals
  • noun
  • /fɔrˈmælˌdɪhaɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : formaldehído
  • Made without toxins, free from pesticides, formaldehyde and other harsh chemicals.
  • formaldehyde solution
  • polymerized formaldehyde
  • fixed in formaldehyde

And they also have almost absolutely no formaldehyde, which is very hard to find.

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Examples

  • Yeah, You can smell the formaldehyde carpets.

  • Everything, your clothes, your hair, your skin, still exuded formaldehyde hours later.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • And they also have almost absolutely no formaldehyde, which is very hard to find.

  • And watch out for the formaldehyde.

  • Boots had the doctor put her foot in a jar of formaldehyde so she could bring it home.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • For RelA ChIP, BMDMs were subject to crosslinking with 1% formaldehyde for 10 minutes at room temperature.

    Academic text (2017)
  • However, emissions of two high-volume chemicals, formaldehyde and chloroethane, have increased substantially.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Plankton samples were preserved using a borax-buffered solution of 4% formaldehyde and seawater.

    Academic text (2018)
  • The biopsy specimens were fixed in 10% buffered formaldehyde, and paraffin blocks were prepared for histological assessment.

    Academic text (2012)
  • The scientist used formaldehyde to preserve the tissue samples for further study.

Synonyms

methanal
vsformaldehyde
  • Specialized
9.9

A colorless poisonous gas that people use to kill germs and preserve things

emphasizes industrial manufacturing use and preservative role rather than formation

Compounds

9.7

A plastic made from vinyl formaldehyde used in paints and glues

9.0

A hard clear plastic made from chemicals that people use to make finishes, glues, and covers

Surface Forms

formaldehyde singular
formaldehydes plural

Morphology

formaldehyde = formyl + aldehyde (opaque) = formyl + aldehyde

The components are specialised chemical combining forms and the everyday-looking sequence 'formal' is misleading, so an average B1 learner cannot derive the meaning.

Etymology

Formaldehyde is made from formic, a word that meant 'ant' because formic acid was first found in ants, and aldehyde, a chemical name for a strong, sharp-smelling substance. So formaldehyde is a strong, sharp-smelling, poisonous chemical related to formic acid, which helps explain its use as a preservative.