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chemical Definition

chemi·cal (kem′i kəl)

adjective

  1. of or having to do with chemistry
  2. made by or used in chemistry
  3. operated or made by the use of chemicals chemical burns
  4. ☆ of or involving the use of a drug, alcoholic liquor, etc. chemical dependency

Etymology: chemic + -al

noun

  1. any substance used in or obtained by a chemical process
  2. ☆ Slang a drug, alcoholic beverage, etc.

chemical Related Forms
chem′i·cally adverb
chemical Synonyms

chemical

modif.

analytic, synthetic, synthesized, petrochemical, biochemical, psychochemical, actinic, artificial, made in the laboratory, ersatz, alchemical.

chemical Synonyms

chemical

n.

substance, synthetic, compound; see drug 2, element 2, medicine 2.

chemical Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • disrupt: This is the first experimental evidence of an endocrine disrupting chemical causing the illness.
  • contain: How can I find out which plants contain a particular chemical?

Adjective modifier

  • toxic: These homes have been built using sustainably sourced materials, avoiding toxic chemicals commonly found in new houses.
  • hazardous: Indecent exposure Humans and wildlife around the world are exposed to a cocktail of hazardous man-made chemicals.
  • harmful: Be exposed to any harmful chemical, physical or biological substances.
  • man-made: Indecent exposure Humans and wildlife around the world are exposed to a cocktail of hazardous man-made chemicals.
  • cancer-causing: Not to mention tossing persistent mutation and cancer-causing chemicals into our ship's air and water recyclers.
  • carcinogenic: Another 20,000 are being drip fed mutagenic and carcinogenic chemicals from their tube wells, whilst Dow refuses to clean up.

Modifies a noun

  • reaction: They can only speed up chemical reactions that would normally not proceed fast enough to be of any use to the cell.
  • weapon: Saddam Hussein used the chemical weapons on his own people.
  • composition: Sometimes the eye doesn't produce enough tears, or the tears have a chemical composition that causes them to evaporate too quickly.
  • compound: Pesticide - A chemical compound used to kill pests.
  • substance: A hormone is a chemical substance that is produced in a special tissue within a gland.
  • messenger: All milk produced by mammals is a medium for transporting hundreds of different chemical messengers.

Noun used with modifier

  • specialty: Originally working at ICI Australia, Carol has a broad career in base, specialty chemicals, most recently in paints.
  • precursor: Libya remains heavily dependent on foreign suppliers for CW precursor chemicals and other key related equipment.
  • specialty: Their products: agrichemical, fine, industrial & specialty chemicals and others.
  • ozone-depleting: Our campaigns focus on endangered species, illegal logging, and ozone-depleting chemicals.
  • brain: The disease is associated with a lack of dopamine, a brain communication chemical.
  • retardant: Mattresses for cribs, cots or cotbeds free from fire retardant chemicals.