chloroform
chloroform Lexical Profile
chloroform Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A colorless, volatile, sweet-smelling liquid organic compound (trichloromethane, CHCl3) widely used as a chemical solvent and historically used as a general anesthetic.
"Before safer alternatives were developed in the twentieth century, physicians frequently used chloroform during surgical procedures."
• verb
To render (a person or animal) unconscious or insensible by administering chloroform.
"The veterinarian had to chloroform the injured animal before setting the fractured bone."
• Rhymes for chloroform
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in French as 'chloroforme' by the chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas in 1834, blending 'chloro-' (from Greek 'khlōros', meaning pale green, referring to chlorine) and '-forme' (from 'formique', meaning formic acid, as it was considered a chlorine derivative of formic acid).