nitrous oxide


noun Chemistry, Pharmacology.

a colorless, sweet-smelling, sweet-tasting, nonflammable, slightly water-soluble gas, N2O, that sometimes produces a feeling of exhilaration when inhaled: used chiefly as an anesthetic in dentistry and surgery, in the manufacture of chemicals, and as an aerosol.
Also called laughing gas.

Origin of nitrous oxide

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example sentences from the Web for nitrous oxide

  • In 1844, Horace Wells, a native of Vermont, discovered that the inhalation of nitrous-oxide gas produces anaesthesia.

    Stories Of Georgia |Joel Chandler Harris
  • It was then and not until then that the nitrous-oxide plant began running at anything like its real capacity.

    With the Doughboy in France |Edward Hungerford
  • To him is to be credited the first operation ever performed without pain by the use of nitrous-oxide gas.

British Dictionary definitions for nitrous oxide

nitrous oxide

noun

a colourless nonflammable slightly soluble gas with a sweet smell: used as an anaesthetic in dentistry and surgery. Formula: N 2 O Systematic name: dinitrogen oxide Also called: laughing gas

Medical definitions for nitrous oxide

nitrous oxide

n.

A colorless sweet-tasting gas used as a mild anesthetic in dentistry and surgery.

Scientific definitions for nitrous oxide

nitrous oxide

A colorless, sweet-smelling gas. It is used as a mild anesthetic, often called laughing gas. Nitrous oxide occurs naturally in the atmosphere and is a greenhouse gas. Chemical formula: N2O.