Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A colorless, highly flammable or explosive gas, C2H2, used for metal welding and cutting and as an illuminant. Also called ethyne.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A colorless gas, C2H2, which has a characteristic and very unpleasant odor, and burns with a luminous smoky flame. Illuminating gas contains a small amount of it. It is formed from its elements, carbon and hydrogen, when the electric arc is passed between carbon-points in an atmosphere of hydrogen; also by the imperfect combustion of illuminating gas and other hydrocarbons. With certain metals and metallic salts it forms explosive compounds. The acetylene series of hydrocarbons has the general formula CnH2n-2; it includes acetylene or ethine (C2H2), propine (C3H4), butine (C4H6); and pentine (C5H8).
- n. This gas, C2H2, prepared by the action of water on calcium carbide, is now largely used as an illuminant and to increase the illuminating value of coal-gas and water-gas of poor quality.
Wiktionary
- n. Any organic compound having one or more carbon–carbon triple bonds; an alkyne.
- n. Ethyne; the simplest alkyne, a hydrocarbon of formula HC≡CH. It is a colourless gas, with a peculiar, unpleasant odour, formerly used as an illuminating gas, but now used in welding or metallurgy.
- n. Any organic compound having one or more carbon–carbon triple bonds; an alkyne.
- n. Ethyne; the simplest alkyne, a hydrocarbon of formula HC≡CH. It is a colourless gas, with a peculiar, unpleasant odour, formerly used as an illuminating gas, but now used in welding or metallurgy.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A gaseous compound of carbon and hydrogen, in the proportion of two atoms of the former to two of the latter. It is a colorless gas, with a peculiar, unpleasant odor, and is produced for use as an illuminating gas in a number of ways, but chiefly by the action of water on calcium carbide. Its light is very brilliant.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a colorless flammable gas used chiefly in welding and in organic synthesis
Examples
“Also, much modern torch use acetylene is still made this way.”
“The cylinders contained acetylene, which is a highly energetic chemical.”
“The location is what we call a packaged gases or cylinder gases location that puts various types of gases, primarily acetylene, which is used for welding, but other types of gases as well into cylinders for distribution to customers.”
“When those two substances are mixed together the hydrogen of the water leaves its original partner, oxygen, and the carbon of the calcium carbide leaves the calcium, uniting together to form that particular compound of hydrogen and carbon, or hydrocarbon, which is known as acetylene, whose formula is C_2H_2; while the residual calcium and oxygen join together to produce calcium oxide or lime, CaO.”
“These are known as acetylene dichloride and tetrachloride respectively, or more systematically as dichlorethylene and tetrachlorethane.”
“Fittings are now being specially made for acetylene, which is a step in the right direction, because, in addition to superior taps and joints being essential, smaller bore piping and smaller through-ways to the taps than are required for coal-gas serve for acetylene.”
“Another use for acetylene, which is only dependent upon a suitably lowered price for carbide to become of some importance, consists in the preparation of a black pigment to replace ordinary lampblack.”
“The world learned one morning of a new gas called acetylene, clear, brilliant, cheap, and simply made from calcium carbide.”
“The signature of a baseline molecule, called acetylene (C2H2), was seen for both types of stars, but hydrogen cyanide was seen only around stars like our sun.”
“(or both), above the level of the relatively safe solution, the cylinder contains a certain quantity of gaseous acetylene, which is compressed above its limit of safety.”
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