Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various salts or esters of hydrogen cyanide containing a CN group, especially the extremely poisonous compounds potassium cyanide and sodium cyanide.
- v. To treat (a metal surface) with cyanide to produce a hard surface.
- v. To treat (an ore) with cyanide to extract gold or silver.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In chem., a combination of cyanogen with an element or a compound radicle capable of acting as an element. Potassium cyanide is the most important. It is a crystalline solid, permanent in dry air, but decomposed in moist air, giving off an odor of prussic or hydrocyanic acid. It has a bitter taste, and is extremely poisonous. It is extensively used in photography, electro-metallurgy, and as a laboratory reagent.
- To treat an ore with a weak solution of an alkaline cyanide, as in the cyanide process for the extraction of gold. See cyanide process.
Wiktionary
- n. Any compound containing the -C≡N radical or the C≡N-1 anion.
- n. potassium cyanide - a water soluble poison
- n. hydrogen cyanide, or cyanide gas - a poisonous gas
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A compound formed by the union of cyanogen with an element or radical.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any of a class of organic compounds containing the cyano radical -CN
- n. an extremely poisonous salt of hydrocyanic acid
Examples
“However, bitter almonds are used for almond flavoring and do contain cyanide, which is removed for making things like extracts.”
“As cyanide is the source for bitterness in both apricot kernels and almonds, the sweet varieties do not have dangerous levels of the chemical.”
“I just used a package to bake some Dutch bitterkoekje-style macaroons (cyanide is broken down by cooking, even though sweet almonds hardly have any).”
“The word cyanide floated at intervals down the aisle.”
Death in Ecstasy
“Hydrogen cyanide is one of the simplest molecules in existence: H-C ∈ N. That’s it.”
“It’s like saying cyanide is almost entirely and universally good when used in the right way.”
Matthew Yglesias » Jessica Valenti on Anti-Feminists and So-Called “Hook-up Culture”
“Never give your dog the core or seeds because the seeds contain cyanide, which is harmful.”
The Huffington Post: Wendy Diamond: Treat Your Dog This Valentine's Day
““Some Branch Davidians may have died from inhalation of hydrogen cyanide, which is produced when CS burns under certain conditions, and others may have been asphyxiated or incapacitated by the CS itself.””
“FEYERICK: Hydrogen cyanide, which is colorless and smells of peaches or bitter almonds, was used in Nazi death camps in World War II.”
“So they may have got hold of some materials looted from various places and there are elements there -- they might be industrial chemicals, for example -- that could be put together to make a chemical called hydrogen cyanide, which is a lethal chemical agent.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cyanide’.
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Murdered, you say?
Terms of homicide; weapons, poisons, synonyms &c.
slaughtered, goes and gets her..., done in, rubbed out, bumped off, malice aforethought, marble baluster, lead spoon, stone idol, atropine, burned, clipped and 90 more...
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cyano-, cyan-
or or relating to blue or dark blue
PossibleUnderscore Cyanide has a very similar molecular structure to oxygen. Therefore, when inhaled, it latches onto oxygen molecules and this prevents the cells of the body from using it. Aug 18, 2009