a colorless, volatile, water-soluble, poisonous liquid, CH4O, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood or the incomplete oxidation of natural gas, or produced synthetically from carbon monoxide and hydrogen, used chiefly as a solvent, a fuel, and an automobile antifreeze and in the synthesis of formaldehyde
Also called: methanol, wood alcohol, wood spirit
Word origin
[1840–50]This word is first recorded in the period 1840–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: organizer, plaque, sensationalism, set piece, striation
Examples of 'methyl alcohol' in a sentence
methyl alcohol
The cells were fixed in methyl alcohol with glacial acetic acid (three parts methyl alcohol and one part acetic acid).
R. F. Aminov, A. K. Frolov 2017, 'Proliferative activity of bone marrow cells of rats under the influence of biologicallyactive substances of a medical leech', Regulatory Mechanisms in Biosystemshttps://medicine.dp.ua/index.php/med/article/view/372. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Alcohol content and acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, polyphenol, methyl alcohol, n-butylic, n-propylic, isobutylic, isoamylic, acidity and copper contents were determined.
Clóvis Parazzi, Cecília Marques Arthur, Jorge José Correa Lopes, Maria Teresa MendesRibeiro Borges 2008, 'Avaliação e caracterização dos principais compostos químicos da aguardente de cana-de-açúcarenvelhecida em tonéis de carvalho (Quercus sp.) Determination of the main chemicalcomponents in Brazilian sugar cane spirit aged in oak (Quercus sp.) barrels', Food Science and Technologyhttp://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-20612008000100028. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)