hydrogen cyanide
noun
1
: a poisonous usually gaseous compound HCN that has the odor of bitter almonds
2
: hydrocyanic acid
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The hot air and combustion products of the fire — including deadly gases like carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide — made the stairwells and many hallways untenable. 
New York Times, 8 July 2022 His lawyers say hydrogen cyanide gas is unconstitutional and produces agonizing levels of pain in executions. Jacques Billeaud, The Arizona Republic, 4 June 2022 Jewish community leaders in Phoenix, Arizona, filed a lawsuit against the state to prevent the use of hydrogen cyanide in executions, the same gas that was used to kill Jews during the Holocaust. Paul Best, Fox News, 21 Feb. 2022 Fallen Kingdom ended with Maisie (now revealed to be a clone of Lockwood's dead daughter) freeing the remaining caged dinosaurs to save them from a hydrogen cyanide gas leak, over Owen's objections. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 10 Feb. 2022 Recent observations by the ALMA telescope in Chile revealed very simple organic molecules — two sorts of hydrogen cyanide and also formaldehyde — being made in comets today. The Week Staff, The Week, 1 Oct. 2018 Additional analysis will be performed at a different lab to find out if hydrogen cyanide, which is found in a car's exhaust, played a factor. Charmaine Patterson, PEOPLE.com, 22 Dec. 2021 Arizona prison officials bought materials in December to make hydrogen cyanide gas, the same gas the Nazis used to murder 865,000 Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp alone. Peter Weber, The Week, 17 June 2021 The research team identified acetylene, ammonia, ethane, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, water, and high amounts of methanol in the comet. Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 July 2021 See More
New York Times, 8 July 2022 His lawyers say hydrogen cyanide gas is unconstitutional and produces agonizing levels of pain in executions. Jacques Billeaud, The Arizona Republic, 4 June 2022 Jewish community leaders in Phoenix, Arizona, filed a lawsuit against the state to prevent the use of hydrogen cyanide in executions, the same gas that was used to kill Jews during the Holocaust. Paul Best, Fox News, 21 Feb. 2022 Fallen Kingdom ended with Maisie (now revealed to be a clone of Lockwood's dead daughter) freeing the remaining caged dinosaurs to save them from a hydrogen cyanide gas leak, over Owen's objections. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 10 Feb. 2022 Recent observations by the ALMA telescope in Chile revealed very simple organic molecules — two sorts of hydrogen cyanide and also formaldehyde — being made in comets today. The Week Staff, The Week, 1 Oct. 2018 Additional analysis will be performed at a different lab to find out if hydrogen cyanide, which is found in a car's exhaust, played a factor. Charmaine Patterson, PEOPLE.com, 22 Dec. 2021 Arizona prison officials bought materials in December to make hydrogen cyanide gas, the same gas the Nazis used to murder 865,000 Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp alone. Peter Weber, The Week, 17 June 2021 The research team identified acetylene, ammonia, ethane, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, water, and high amounts of methanol in the comet. Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 July 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1869, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Medical Definition
hydrogen cyanide
noun
1
: a poisonous usually gaseous compound HCN that has the odor of bitter almonds
2
: hydrocyanic acid