lewisite

[ loo-uh-sahyt ]

noun

1. a pale yellow, odorless compound, C 2 H 2 AsCl 3 , used as a blister gas in World War I.

lewisite

/ ˈluːɪˌsaɪt /

noun

1. a colourless oily poisonous liquid with an odour resembling that of geraniums, having a powerful vesicant action and used as a war gas; 1-chloro-2-dichloroarsinoethene. Formula: ClCH:CHAsCl 2

Word History and Origins

Origin of lewisite¹

1920–25; named after Winford Lee Lewis (1878–1943), American chemist who developed it; -ite ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of lewisite¹

C20: named after W. L. Lewis (1878–1943), US chemist

Example Sentences

Or was it lewisite, a blistering agent that quickly penetrated the skin?

From Nature

Or one of the new blends such as ‘Winterlost’, a combination of nitrogen mustard and lewisite that featured a low freezing point to ensure effectiveness at the frigid Russian front?

From Nature

Reports vary as to when Dzerzhinsk factories stopped making lewisite, mustard gas and other chemicals designed as weapons of war.

From Fox News

Sulfur mustard, lewisite and other chemical warfare compounds — as well as traces of the constituent chemicals that remain after the warfare agents break down over time — have also been detected and removed.

From New York Times

When the war ended, the scientists revealed they had developed a new weapon called lewisite, an arsenic-based blister agent manufactured outside Cleveland at a top-secret factory nicknamed “the mousetrap” because of its elaborate security.

From New York Times