acetylene Hear it!

acetylene definition

acety·lene (ə set′'l ēn′)

noun

a colorless, poisonous, highly flammable gaseous hydrocarbon, HC⋮CH, produced by the reaction of water and calcium carbide: used in organic compound synthesis, for lighting, and with oxygen in welding: the simplest alkyne

Etymology: acetyl + -ene

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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