carbon monoxide

noun

1. a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas, CO, that burns with a pale-blue flame, produced when carbon burns with insufficient air: used chiefly in organic synthesis, metallurgy, and in the preparation of metal carbonyls, as nickel carbonyl.

carbon monoxide

noun

1. a colourless odourless poisonous flammable gas formed when carbon compounds burn in insufficient air and produced by the action of steam on hot carbon: used as a reducing agent in metallurgy and as a fuel. Formula: CO

Word History and Origins

Origin of carbon monoxide¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Cigarettes release thousands of different chemicals when they burn, including carbon monoxide, lead and ammonia.

From BBC

In the case of large, multiple-battery fires, they can burn for days, all the while releasing toxic gases such as hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

From Los Angeles Times

The employees were treated for heat-related illness, the report said, but when their symptoms didn’t improve, they were treated at a hospital for carbon monoxide exposure.

From Los Angeles Times

Investigation work is continuing after three people died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at a care home.

From BBC

Dorset Police said earlier the deaths at the Gainsborough Care Home in Swanage, were being treated as "unexplained" but potential carbon monoxide poisoning was the "primary line of inquiry".

From BBC