carbon dioxide

[ kahr-buhn dahy-ok-sahyd ]

noun

1. a colorless, odorless, incombustible gas, CO 2 , present in the atmosphere and formed during respiration, usually obtained from coal, coke, or natural gas by combustion, from carbohydrates by fermentation, by reaction of acid with limestone or other carbonates, or naturally from springs: used extensively in industry as dry ice, or carbon dioxide snow, in carbonated beverages, fire extinguishers, etc.

carbon dioxide

noun

1. a colourless odourless incombustible gas present in the atmosphere and formed during respiration, the decomposition and combustion of organic compounds, and in the reaction of acids with carbonates: used in carbonated drinks, fire extinguishers, and as dry ice for refrigeration. Formula: CO 2 Also calledcarbonic-acid gas

carbon dioxide

1. A colorless, odorless gas that is present in the atmosphere and is formed when any fuel containing carbon is burned. It is breathed out of an animal's lungs during respiration, is produced by the decay of organic matter, and is used by plants in photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is also used in refrigeration, fire extinguishers, and carbonated drinks. Chemical formula: CO 2 .

carbon dioxide

1. A compound made up of molecules containing one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms.

Notes

Carbon dioxide is normally found as a gas that is breathed out by animals and absorbed by green plants. The plants, in turn, return oxygen to the atmosphere . ( See carbon cycle and respiration .)

Carbon dioxide is also given off in the burning of fossil fuels ( see greenhouse effect ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of carbon dioxide¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

She helped a winemaker protect the fermenting wines with carbon dioxide and dry ice, while firefighters managed to save the winery.

From Washington Post

Tilling exposes carbon from dead plants to oxygen in the air, creating carbon dioxide, which is the planet’s most troublesome climate-changing gas.

From Voice of San Diego

In the context of planetary science, this can mean water ice, or nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen, methane, sulfur dioxide—the ingredients for life.

From MIT Technology Review

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased by about 20 parts per million between roughly 4000 BCE and 1850 CE, she said.

From Popular-Science

If all 139 million households in the United States used efficiency measures to cut their heating and cooling costs by a third, the country would save almost 150 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

From Washington Post

It reacts very readily with oxygen by burning smokelessly, with carbon dioxide and water as its byproducts.

From The Daily Beast

Other psychiatrists attempted to treat schizophrenia with carbon dioxide gas and artificially-induced comas.

From The Daily Beast

The higher levels of carbon dioxide will induce something of a feeding frenzy for plants, at least for a while.

From The Daily Beast

“We are short of carbon dioxide for the needs of the plants,” Anderson said.

From The Daily Beast

First they smell us, detecting molecules from bacteria on our skin and carbon dioxide from our breath.

From The Daily Beast

The primary purpose of respiration in all animals is the same—namely, to furnish oxygen and remove carbon dioxide (carbonic acid).

From Project Gutenberg

If we collect enough of these bubbles of gas to make a test, we find it to be carbon dioxide.

From Project Gutenberg

In previous experiments we have proved that carbon dioxide is given off by any living thing when oxidation occurs in the body.

From Project Gutenberg

The plants give off oxygen to the animals, and the animals give carbon dioxide to the plants.

From Project Gutenberg

The organs of respiration: the organs in which the blood receives oxygen and gives up carbon dioxide.

From Project Gutenberg