gas
/ɡæs/ noun, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms gases gasses gassing gassed gasser gassest
- noun (uncountable, physical chemistry) Matter in an intermediate state between liquid and plasma that can be contained only if it is fully surrounded by a solid (or in a bubble of liquid, or held together by gravitational pull); it can condense into a liquid, or can (rarely) become a solid directly by deposition. “A lot of gas had escaped from the cylinder.”
- noun (uncountable) A flammable gaseous hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture used as a fuel, e.g. for cooking, heating, electricity generation or as a fuel in internal combustion engines in vehicles, especially natural gas. “Gas-fired power stations have largely replaced coal-burning ones.”
- noun (uncountable, military) Poison gas. “The artillery fired gas shells into the enemy trenches.”
- noun (countable, physical chemistry) A chemical element or compound in such a state. “The atmosphere is made up of a number of different gases.”
- noun (countable) A hob on a gas cooker. “She turned the gas on, put the potatoes on, then lit the oven.”
- noun (uncountable) Methane or other waste gases trapped in one's belly as a result of the digestive process; flatus. “My tummy hurts so bad – I have gas.”
- noun (business, often attributive) The supply of natural gas, as a utility.
- noun (slang, dated) A humorous or entertaining event, person, or thing.
- verb (transitive) To attack or kill with poison gas. “The Nazis gassed millions of Jews during the Holocaust.”
- verb (transitive) To use poison gas in (a volume or area) to attack or kill someone or something.
- verb (intransitive, slang) To talk in a boastful or vapid way; to chatter.
- verb (transitive, slang) To impose upon by talking boastfully.
- verb (intransitive) To emit gas. “The battery cell was gassing.”
- verb (transitive) To impregnate with gas. “to gas lime with chlorine in the manufacture of bleaching powder”
- verb (transitive) To singe, as in a gas flame, so as to remove loose fibers. “to gas thread”
- noun (uncountable, Canada, US, New Zealand, Philippines) Gasoline, a light derivative of petroleum used as fuel.
- noun (uncountable, cryptocurrencies) An internal virtual currency used in Ethereum to pay for certain operations, such as blockchain transactions. “gas fee”
- noun (slang, uncountable) Marijuana, typically of high quality.
- verb (US) To increase the fuel flow to a vehicle's engine in order to accelerate it. “The cops are coming. Gas it!”
- verb (US) To fill (a vehicle's fuel tank) with fuel.
Synonyms
vapor vapour wind gasoline petrol black gold dino juice dino oil dinosaur juice dinosaur oil juice oil petroleum Texas tea hit the gas step on the gas refuel gaseous state gasolene flatulence flatulency accelerator accelerator pedal gas pedal throttle gun natural gas boast tout swash
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch gas, coined by chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont in Ortus Medicinae. Derived from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos, “chasm, void, empty space”); perhaps also inspired by geest (“breath, vapour, spirit”). Doublet of chaos. First attested in 1648.
Clipping of gasoline. Slang forms popularized on TikTok by Gen Z.
Compare the slang usage of "a gas", above.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An aëriform fluid; --a term used at first by chemists as synonymous with air, but since restricted to fluids supposed to be permanently elastic, as oxygen, hydrogen, etc., in distinction from vapors, as steam, which become liquid on a reduction of temperature.
- noun (a) A complex mixture of gases, of which the most important constituents are marsh gas, olefiant gas, and hydrogen, artificially produced by the destructive distillation of gas coal, or sometimes of peat, wood, oil, resin, etc. It gives a brilliant light when burned, and is the common gas used for illuminating purposes.
Etymology [Invented by the chemist Van Helmont of Brussels, who died in 1644.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gas”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details