prussic acid
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of prussic acid
1780–90; translation of French acide prussique (equivalent to Prusse Prussia + -ique -ic ); so called because it was first obtained by heating Prussian blue with sulfuric acid
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the early 1900s, buyers had to sign for drugs they bought from a chemist, but the prosecution pointed out that the signature for the prussic acid didn't match the one on Orme's letters.
From BBC • Jan. 13, 2024
Following the trail of a prussic acid theft, Sergeant Bell of Scotland Yard blunders his way into an inspectorship, following his self-denied solution of the crime.
From Time Magazine Archive
Woolen and silk clothes, rugs and furnishings produce prussic acid and ammonia as well as carbon monoxide and dioxide.
From Time Magazine Archive
In America orchard trees infested with insects or fungi have been covered one by one with light tents, and the vapours of prussic acid, burning sulphur, and other poisons allowed to act inside the tent.
From Disease in Plants by Ward, H. Marshall
This rapid effect of prussic acid is supposed to arise from its great volatility and powers of expansion, by which it is diffused more quickly through the circulation than the blood.
From Curiosities of Medical Experience by Millingen, J. G. (John Gideon)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
