sulfurous acid

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a colorless liquid, H 2 SO 3 , having a suffocating odor, obtained by dissolving sulfur dioxide in water, known mainly by its salts, which are sulfites: used chiefly in organic synthesis and as a bleach.

sulfurous acid

1. A colorless solution of sulfur dioxide in water, characterized by a suffocating sulfurous odor. It is used as a bleaching agent, preservative, and disinfectant. Chemical formula: H 2 SO 3 .

Word History and Origins

Origin of sulfurous acid¹

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

Sulfurous acid is related to acid rain, which can kill trees and fish.

From The Verge

If you breathe the smoke, it can harm your lungs and even kill you. like a carpet of sparkling blue blaze When sulfur burns, it produces sulfur dioxide, a harmful gas that forms sulfurous acid when it comes in contact with water, including the moisture in your lungs.

From The Verge

When sulfur is burned, a gas is formed known as sulfurous acid, and until the last few years, it was the most common of all disinfecting agencies.

From Project Gutenberg

The corn steeped for several days with sulfurous acid is disintegrated and on being ground the germs are floated off, the gluten or nitrogenous portion washed out, the starch grains settled down and the residue pressed together as oil cake fodder.

From Project Gutenberg

If, as was formerly sometimes the case, sulfuric acid was used to effect the conversion of the starch or sulfurous acid to bleach the glucose and these acids were not altogether eliminated, the product might be unwholesome or worse.

From Project Gutenberg