trinitrocresol

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A yellow crystalline compound, (NO₂)₃C₆H(CH₃)OH, used in high explosives.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A substance obtained by the action of concentrated nitric acid on cresol from coal-tar. It forms yellow needle-like crystals, sparingly soluble in cold water, melting at about 100° C., burning when ignited by a flame, but exploding violently from the shock of a heavy detonating fuse. It has been used in France as an explosive agent under the name cresilite, and its ammonium salt similarly in Austria as ecrasite. It has been to a limited extent applied in medicine as an antiseptic.

Wiktionary

1. n. organic chemistry, medicine Any of several isomeric trinitro derivatives of cresol; the commercial mixture was once used as an antiseptic