formaldehyde

noun/fɔrˈmældəˌhaɪd/

Frequency rank: #13,451 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

a colorless, pungent gas used as a preservative and disinfectant, with the chemical formula CH2O.

Illustration for the English word “formaldehyde”

Example sentence

The biology teacher warned students that formaldehyde has a strong, unpleasant odor.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 13,401–13,500