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Glite Dictionary
naphthalene poisoning

naphthalene poisoning

1 8.6
Sickness from breathing in or swallowing mothballs that makes you feel unwell and gives a headache
  • noun
  • /ˈnæfθəˌlin ˈpɔɪzənɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : intoxicación por naftaleno
  • The doctor suspected naphthalene poisoning after hearing about the patient's contact with mothballs.

Examples

  • Chronic exposure to mothball fumes can lead to naphthalene poisoning.

  • Children are at risk of naphthalene poisoning if they accidentally swallow mothballs.

  • The doctor diagnosed him with naphthalene poisoning.

  • She suffered from naphthalene poisoning after cleaning the old carpets.

  • The doctor confirmed that the symptoms were due to naphthalene poisoning after the boy inhaled fumes from mothballs.

  • She experienced severe nausea and headaches as a result of naphthalene poisoning from inhaling the toxic vapors.

  • After ingesting products containing naphthalene, he was treated for naphthalene poisoning which caused his anemia.

Synonyms

poisoning
vsnaphthalene poisoning
  • Specialized
144 3.9

A serious sickness caused by taking a harmful chemical into the body

is a specific case caused by one chemical and includes nausea headache and anemia

Surface Forms

naphthalene poisoning singular
naphthalene poisonings plural

Morphology

naphthalene + poisoning

The meaning is directly compositional: 'naphthalene' names the chemical and 'poisoning' denotes a harmful condition caused by a substance, so 'naphthalene poisoning' clearly denotes poisoning by naphthalene. This X + poisoning pattern is a regular, cross-linguistic nominal construction, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The name naphthalene poisoning comes from a chemical called naphthalene, which is put in mothballs. When a person swallows or breathes too much naphthalene, they get sick—so poisoning means being made 'poisoned' by that chemical.