chemicalnoun [ C ]
uk/ˈkem.ɪ.kəl/us/ˈkem.ɪ.kəl/B2 any basic substance that is used in or produced by a reaction involving changes to atoms or molecules:
The government has pledged to reduce the amount of chemicals used in food production.
Each year, factories release millions of tons of toxic (= poisonous) chemicals into the atmosphere.
More examples
- They use special chemicals to accelerate the growth of crops.
- Organic chemicals are used in the manufacture of plastics, fibres, solvents and paints.
- The body produces chemicals that are natural painkillers.
- Toxic chemicals continue to be dumped in the North Sea.
- Many chemicals have a damaging effect on the environment.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Chemistry - general words
- acceptor
- allotrope
- amphiprotic
- amphoteric
- atomic
- atomicity
- balanced equation
- catalyst
- chemical equation
- electrolyte
- equation
- inorganic chemistry
- ionic bond
- nonelectrolyte
- organic chemistry
- reactivity
- solute
- stably
- substrate
- the nitrogen cycle
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chemicaladjective
uk/ˈkem.ɪ.kəl/us/ˈkem.ɪ.kəl/B2 relating to chemicals:
The chemical industry produces such things as petrochemicals, drugs, and rubber.
More examples
- Sodium chloride is the chemical name for common salt.
- All chemical weapons facilities will be deactivated.
- Estimates of the amount of money needed to decontaminate the heavily polluted chemical installations vary.
- We had to learn chemical formulae at school, but I can only remember H2O for water.
- The chemical properties of coal are still incompletely understood.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Chemistry - general words
- acceptor
- allotrope
- amphiprotic
- amphoteric
- atomic
- atomicity
- balanced equation
- catalyst
- chemical equation
- electrolyte
- equation
- inorganic chemistry
- ionic bond
- nonelectrolyte
- organic chemistry
- reactivity
- solute
- stably
- substrate
- the nitrogen cycle
See more results »
chemically
adverb uk/ˈkem.ɪ.kəl.i/us/ˈkem.ɪ.kəl.i/
The fund provides money to clean up chemically polluted industrial sites.