▪ I. gas, n.1
(gæs)
Pl. gases (ˈgæsɪz). Forms: 7–8 gass, 8–9 gaz, 7– gas.
[A word invented by the Dutch chemist, J. B. Van Helmont (1577–1644), but avowedly based upon the Gr. χάος (‘halitum illum Gas vocavi, non longe a Chao veterum secretum.’ Ortus Medicinæ, ed. 1652, p. 59 a); the Dutch pronunciation of g as a spirant accounts for its being employed to represent Gr. χ; perh. suggested by Paracelsus's use of chaos for the proper element of spirits such as gnomes: see gnome2.
Van Helmont's statement having been overlooked, it has been very commonly supposed that he modelled his word on Du. geest spirit, an idea found at least as early as 1775 (Priestley On Air Introd. 3). Van H. also invented the term blas, which has not survived, while gas has been adopted (usually in the same form) in most European languages; the spelling in F. and Pg. is gaz, which was also employed by English writers for a time.]
† 1. An occult principle supposed by Van Helmont to be contained in all bodies, and regarded by him as an ultra-rarefied condition of water (see quot. 1662). Obs.
| 1658 R. Franck North. Mem. (1694) 202 Insomuch, that neither Gass nor Blass, nor any nauseating suffocating Fumes, nor hardly Death it self can snatch them from Scotland. 1662 J. Chandler Van Helmont's Oriat. 69 Because the water which is brought into a vapour by cold, is of another condition, than a vapour raised by heat: therefore..for want of a name, I have called that vapour, Gas, being not far severed from the Chaos of the Auntients..Gas is a far more subtile or fine thing than a vapour, mist, or distilled Oylinesses, although as yet, it be many times thicker than Air. But Gas it self, materially taken, is water as yet masked with the Ferment of composed Bodies. 1692 tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (1693) 99/2 Gas, a term used by Helmont, and signifies a Spirit that will not coagulate, or the Spirit of Life, a Balsom preserving the Body from Corruption. 1743 Lond. & Country Brew. ii. (ed. 2) 154 Your Water never is to boil; for Boiling irritates and evaporates the subtile, fine, penetrating Gas or Spirit. |
2. Any aeriform or completely elastic fluid; matter in the condition of an aeriform fluid. Usually applied only to those elastic fluids which remain such at ordinary atmospheric temperatures; the gaseous forms of substances ordinarily found solid or liquid being by preference called
vapours.
| 1779 Ingenhousz in Phil. Trans. LXIX. 376 Account of a new kind of inflammable Air or Gass, which can be made in a Moment without Apparatus, and is as fit for Explosion as other inflammable Gasses in use for that Purpose. 1790 Kerr tr. Lavoisier's Elem. Chem. 50 Gas, therefore, in our nomenclature, becomes a generic term, expressing the fullest degree of saturation in any body with caloric; being in fact, a term expressive of a mode of existence. 1791 Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. 6 The refracting power of the different gases. 1798 T. Hinderwell Scarborough ii. i. 187 Carbonic Acid Gaz, or Fixt air. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. iv. 456 O'er great, o'er small extends his physic laws, Empalms the empyrean or dissects a gaz. 1831 T. P. Jones Convers. Chem. xxiv. 252 In its affinities also it [Iodine] is strikingly similar, decomposing water and forming with its hydrogen a gaseous acid, called hydriodic acid gas. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 84 The specific gravities of the three gases which composed the atmosphere. 1891 Ramsay Inorg. Chem. 97 The density of a gas which exists as a liquid at ordinary atmospheric temperatures is termed a vapour-density; there is no real distinction between the words gas and vapour. |
3. spec. a. Gas of a kind suitable to be burnt for illuminating or heating purposes; originally
= coal-gas, but now including (
a) various artificial mixtures consisting chiefly of carburetted hydrogen, and distinguished by defining words indicating the source from which they are obtained, as
water-gas,
oil-gas, etc.; and (
b)
natural gas (see
natural a. 6 b).
The first experiments in the use of coal-gas for illumination are said to have been made by Dr. Clayton, rector of Crofton about 1688; the practical introduction of gas-lighting was due to Murdoch 1792–1808.
| 1794 Colman Br. Grins, Epil. Open. Drury Lane Th. 32 Our decorations [are] gossamer and gas. 1808 Murdoch in Phil. Trans. XCVIII. 124 The whole of the rooms of this cotton mill..and the adjacent house of Mr. Lee, are lighted with the gas from coal. 1823 Byron Juan xi. xxii, Here the lamplighter's infusion Slowly distill'd into the glimmering glass (For in those days we had not got to gas). 1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. i. 10 He turned on the gas in his back room to an unusual brightness. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 39 As invisible as the air we breathe or the gas we burn. |
b. Coal Mining. Firedamp mixed with common air, the mixture involving a danger of explosion.
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts II. 223 Carburetted hydrogen gas, which produces these dreadful explosions, is not explosive until it is united with a certain proportion of ordinary air..Some coal mines supply a much greater quantity of gas than others, and these are commonly called ‘fiery mines’. |
c. The hydrogen, helium, or coal-gas employed to fill a balloon or airship. Also
fig.| 1792 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Ep. to Ld. Macartney, Such Soldiers! such rare generals! no Poltroons Swell'd by the gas of Courage to Balloons. 1793 M. Cutler in Life Jrnls. & Corr. (1888) II. 279 His gas is now pretty well expended, and he has descended into universal contempt. 1800 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 314 Their gass is nearly run out. 1871 Glaisher Trav. Air ii. 42 The inflation of the balloon was proceeded with, and after three hours about 60,000 feet of gas had passed in. |
d. Nitrous oxide gas, used as an anæsthetic,
esp. by dentists. (Called also
laughing gas.)
| 1894 Times 22 Feb. 7/6 The deceased came to consult him with reference to having a tooth extracted with gas. |
e. Path. Vapour generated in the stomach or intestines. (So F.
gaz.)
| 1882 Allchin in Quain's Dict. Med. 369/1 All ill-smelling gases and excreta may be, indeed, indicative of the progress of putrefaction lower down in the canal. |
f. Any of various gases used in warfare to cause poisoning, asphyxiation, irritation, etc., to the enemy;
freq. preceded by defining word, as
asphyxiant gas,
asphyxiating gas,
lachrymatory gas,
mustard gas,
nerve gas,
poison gas,
tear gas.
| 1900 F. W. Holls Peace Conf. Hague 1899 vii. 337 Concerning the prohibition of the use of projectiles containing asphyxiating gas. 1915 D. O. Barnett Lett. 28 Apr. 124 You may like to know we've got a way of competing with asphyxiating gas. 1915 War Illustr. 8 May 282/1 Germans held back by their own gas. 1921 [see asphyxiant a. and n.]. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. III. 334/1 Gas was first used on a large scale in the first world war. |
4. A jet of gas, used to light a room, etc.; a gas-light; also, a jet or jets of gas used for heating or cooking. Chiefly
colloq.| 1851 Mrs. Gaskell Let. c 28 Mar. (1966) 147 They acted in the outer lobby, under the gas. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton v. 60 The gases were lit in the spacious coffee-room. 1896 E. Turner Little Larrikin xiv. 160 Several contrivances she saw about. One over the gas, for instance—a piece of hoop⁓iron, bent hook-wise. |
5. a. slang. [
Cf. 3 c
fig.] Empty or boastful talk; showy pretence, bombast; humbug, nonsense.
| 1847 Porter Quarter Race, etc. 120 The boys said that was all gas to scare them off. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Religion Wks. (Bohn) II. 102 Lord Shaftesbury calls the poor thieves together, and reads sermons to them, and they call it ‘gas’. 1889 Globe 31 Oct. 4/4 (Farmer) It went on to state that the petitioner's talk about a divorce was all gas, and made a further appointment. |
b. Colloq. phr. all (or everything) is gas and gaiters, everything is very satisfactory;
(all) gas and gaiters, pompousness, verbosity.
| 1839 Dickens Nich. Nick. xlix. 489 She is come at last—at last—and all is gas and gaiters! 1923 A. C. Benson Trefoil iii. 26 My father was profoundly irritated by him, and..said something..about ‘gas and gaiters’ which seemed to us a harsh description of so pretty a man. 1925 A. Christie Secret of Chimneys xiii. 124 I've only got to get hold of dear old Stylptitch's Reminiscences..and all will be gas and gaiters. 1932 G. B. Shaw Adv. Black Girl 67 Its [sc. the Bible's] one great love poem is the only one that can satisfy a man who is really in love. Shelley's Epipsychidion is, in comparison, literary gas and gaiters. 1961 Wodehouse Ice in Bedroom ii. 21 She cries ‘Oh, Freddie darling!’ and flings herself into his arms, and all is gas and gaiters again. |
c. Fun; a joke.
Anglo-Irish slang.
| 1914 Joyce Dubliners 24 He told me he had brought it [sc. a catapult] to have some gas with the birds. Mahony used slang freely. 1962 E. O'Brien Lonely Girl ii. 20 ‘Let's do it for gas,’ Baba said. 1965 M. Kenyon May you die in Ireland xxiii. 197 Gas is Irish for joke—gag, fun, having a wonderful time. |
d. (Esp.
prec. by
indef. article.) Something or someone that is very pleasing, exciting, impressive, admirable, etc. Also
attrib. or quasi-adj. Cf. gasser 2.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1957 J. Baldwin in Partisan Rev. iii. 357 Brand-new pianos certainly were a gas. 1962 Austral. Women's Wkly. Suppl. 24 Oct. 3/2 Gas, anything which is very good. 1963 Guardian 5 July 11/3 You can listen to his old records now and they are still a gas. 1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water xxxii. 124 ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘got me an E-type Jag: Cambridge blue—wire wheels—it's a gas.’ 1964 ‘J. Welcome’ Hard to Handle vii. 79 I'm bound to say I thought it rather gas at the time. 1967 Melody Maker 27 May 10/6 Altogether an indefinite sound except for a gas build-up in the middle. 1971 Frendz 21 May 16/1 The Stones..were a screaming, speeding, sexy gas. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. General relations:
a. simple
attrib., as
gas-bubble,
gas-fire,
gas-flame,
gas-jet,
gas-lamp; (sense 3 f)
gas alert,
gas attack,
gas bomb,
gas-bombardment,
gas war,
gas warfare;
b. instrumental, as
gas-lighting;
gas-charged,
gas-driven,
gas-filled,
gas-heated,
gas-laden,
gas-lighted,
gas-lit adjs.;
c. objective, as
gas-lighting,
gas-maker,
gas-making,
gas-tester,
gas-testing;
gas-delivering,
gas-producing,
gas-yielding adjs.;
d. limitative, as
gas-tight adj.| 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 256 When conditions of atmosphere and wind are favorable for a gas attack preparations are made to meet it. This is known as *gas alert. |
| 1916 King's Royal Rifle Corps Chron. 1915 20 The Germans opened a burning *gas attack upon the front of the trenches we had captured from them ten days before. 1971 Daily Tel. 13 Sept. 1/5 Hundreds of New York State police prepared last night for a gas attack on 1,000 rebellious prisoners holding 38 hostages at Attica prison. |
| 1915 Sphere 1 May 107/2 The Germans throw their *gas bombs with a species of sling. |
| 1920 G. K. Rose 2/4th Oxf. & Bucks. Lt. Infty. 203 Throughout the night of August 7/8..a heavy *gas-bombardment was kept up. |
| 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 76 The *gas-bubbles ascend. |
| 1896 Daily News 1 May 2/1 It is feared..that none of the men will have survived their long imprisonment in the *gas-charged workings. |
| 1839–47 Todd Cycl. Anat. III. 819/2 A bent *gas-delivering tube. |
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 23 June 8/3 *Gas-driven cars, similar to those running from Blackpool to Lytham. a 1918 W. Owen Poems (1963) 95 Gas-driven busses. |
| 1907 Jrnl. Soc. Arts LV. 596/2 *Gas-filled airships have lately been so improved. 1919 Conquest I. 25/3 A modern half-watt gas-filled lamp. 1932 Discovery Oct. 319/2 The..introduction of thermionic valves containing mercury, called ‘gas-filled relays’ and ‘thyratrons’. 1971 F. Raphael Who were you with Last Night? 113 She's slowly turning blue in a gas-filled room. |
| 1860 Piesse Lab. Chem. Wonders 57 In this *gas-fire diamonds may be burned. 1877 Ruskin Fors Clav. VII. 257 A sentence which..ought to be blazoned, in letters of stinking gasfire, over the condemned cells of every felon's prison in Europe. 1910 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 160/1 Gas fires, as a substitute for the open coal fire, have many points in their favour. |
| 1815 Accum Treat. Gas-Light (ed. 2) 150 The great power of a *gas-flame does not appear when we try small quantities of it. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 946/1 *Gas-heated furnace. 1963 B.S.I. News Apr. 31 (heading) Gas-heated catering equipment. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1139 A tube placed immediately above a row of *gas-jets. 1884 Mrs. H. Ward Miss Bretherton 62 Only a few gas-jets were left burning round a pillar. |
| 1879 A. Giberne Sun, Moon & Stars (1880) 293 Sun and stars are solid burning bodies, sending their light through burning *gas-laden atmospheres. |
| 1815 Accum Treat. Gas-Light (ed. 2) 143 The light of the parish *gas-lamps, is [etc.]. 1823 Byron Juan vii. xlvi, O'er whom Suwarrow shone like a gas lamp. 1849 Clough Dipsychus ix. 84 As the light of day enters some..city..shaming the gas-lamps. |
| 1862 Lloyd Tasmania xix. 472 The opulent city of Melbourne..its plate-glassed and *gas-lighted shops. |
| 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 85/2 This was a hint which..might have brought *gas-lighting into operation a century earlier. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 545 By the year 1822, gas-lighting in London had become the business of many public companies. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 951/2 Devices for gas-lighting are matches [etc.]. |
| 1837 Lockhart Scott xli, Passing from a *gas-lit hall into a room with wax candles. 1883 Black Shandon Bells xii, He walked away down through the gas-lit streets to Fulham. |
| 1839 Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. 69 This coke..was of extreme disuse to the *gas-makers. |
| Ibid. 69 The process of *gas-making. |
| 1895 Westm. Gaz. 31 Dec. 6/3 Lothian producers of Cannel *gas-producing coal. |
| 1893 Dublin Rev. July 652 The need of an efficient *gas-tester. |
| Ibid. 654 The flame is then ready for *gas-testing. |
| 1831 Brewster Nat. Magic v. (1833) 109 A short tube d e, moveable up and down within it, so as to be *gas-tight. |
| 1931 ‘Miles’ (title) The *gas war of 1940. |
| 1916 W. Owen Let. Aug. (1967) 402, I am now as well up in *Gas Warfare as can be. |
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 29 Oct. 9/1 To test the coal..with respect to its *gas-yielding properties. |
7. Special comb.:
gas alarm, an apparatus (
a) to give warning of the presence of gas, (
b) to give an alarm by means of a slight explosion of gas; (
c)
U.S. an alarm device operated by gas; (
d) a warning of the presence of poisonous gas;
gas amplification, a process in which, in a strong electric field, an ion produced in a gas by ionizing radiation gives rise to further ions; also, the factor by which the total ionization is increased by this process;
gas analysis, the measurement or estimation of the quantity of different gases in a mixture;
= gasometry; so
gas analyser;
gas-apparatus, the apparatus used in the making of gas;
gas arc, an electric arc in any of the rare gases under high pressure; also, a lamp using a gas arc;
gas-balloon = balloon n.1 6;
gas barrel (see
quot. 1904);
gas-bath, (
a) a bath heated by gas; (
b) (see
quot.);
gas-battery, a voltaic battery which operates by the inter-action of gases;
gas-bellows (see
quot.);
gas-bill, (
a) a bill in Parliament granting powers to manufacture and supply gas for lighting purposes; (
b) an account rendered for gas consumed;
gas-black, a pigment obtained by the burning of gas;
gas-bleaching, ‘the operation of bleaching by means of sulphur dioxide’ (
Cent. Dict.);
gas-blower, a stream of gas from a coal-seam;
gas-boiler (see
quot.);
gas-bottle, (
a) a retort; (
b) a vessel (of iron) to hold compressed gas, usually for anæsthetic or other medical purposes;
gas-bracket = bracket n. 4;
gas-buoy, a buoy having one or more chambers filled with gas to supply the lamp which it carries;
gas-burner (see
burner 4);
gas-cape, a cape for protection against poison gas;
gas-carbon (see
quots.);
gas-cell, a cell containing gas in an airship;
gas centrifuge, a centrifuge for partially separating a mixture of gases,
esp. gases that are isotopes of a single element or compounds of them; hence
gas-centrifuging vbl. n.;
gas chamber, (
a) (see
quot. 1885); (
b) a chamber in which gas masks are tested or demonstrated; (
c)
esp., one of the chambers used by the Germans in the 1939–45 war for exterminating groups of human beings by gas-poisoning; any place of execution by gas-poisoning;
gas-chandelier = gaselier;
gas-check, a device used in ordnance to prevent escape of gas at the breech;
gas chromatogram,
chromatograph (see
chromatogram,
chromatograph);
gas chromatography, chromatography analogous to liquid chromatography but using a carrier gas as the moving phase, which carries the gaseous or vaporized sample through a column containing the solid or liquid stationary phase so that the sample emerges separated into its constituents; hence
gas-chromatographic a., relating to or involving gas chromatography;
gas-coal, bituminous coal used in making gas;
gas-cock, a tap fitted to a gas-pipe;
gas-coke, the residuum (chiefly carbon) of coal employed in gas-making;
gas-company, a company formed to make gas and supply it to the public;
gas-condenser, an apparatus for freeing coal-gas from its tar;
gas-cooker, a cooker in which the heat is supplied by the burning of gas; a gas-stove; so
gas-cooking;
gas-cooled a., of a nuclear reactor, having a gaseous coolant;
gas-cylinder, a cylinder in which pressurized gas is stored;
gas-detector, a device for detecting the presence of poisonous gas;
gas-discharge, applied
attrib. to a gas-filled lamp, tube, etc., designed so that electric discharges may be produced in it;
gas-douche (see
quot.);
gas-drain (
Coal-mining), a heading for carrying off fire-damp;
gas-dregs, the refuse of gas-making;
gas dynamics, the study of the dynamic properties of gases;
gas-engine, an engine in which the motive power is obtained by the production or the rhythmical combustion and explosion of gas in a closed cylinder;
gas-engineer, one engaged in the making of gas, or in regulating its supply (
esp. in theatres);
gas-escape, a leakage of gas;
gas-field, ‘a region from which natural gas is obtained’ (
Cent. Dict.);
gas-fired a., heated by the combustion of gas;
gas-firing, (
a) a mode of firing a furnace so that the gaseous products of combustion are utilized as fuel; (
b) a gas-fired system of heating;
gas-fixture, ‘a bracket or gaselier for gas, including burner and stop-cock’ (Ogilvie);
gas-float (see
quot.);
gas-focused a. , applied to a cathode-ray tube that makes use of the ionization produced in residual gas to focus the beam of electrons;
gas-furnace, (
a) a furnace for manufacturing gas; (
b) a furnace heated by gas;
gas gangrene, a rapidly spreading form of gangrene marked by the evolution of gas and usually resulting from the infection of deep wounds by
Clostridium species;
gas-gauge (see
quot.);
gas-generator, an apparatus for the production of gas;
gas-globe, a globe of glass or porcelain used to shade a gas-light;
gas-gong, a gong to give warning of a gas attack;
gas-governor (see
quots.);
gas-gun, (
a) (see
quot. 1884); (
b) a gun using gas as a propellant or as fuel;
gas-harmonicon (see
quot.);
gas-heater, any apparatus in which gas is employed for heating purposes;
gas helmet = gas mask;
gas-holder, a vessel for storing coal-gas, a gasometer;
gas-house (
orig. U.S.), a gas-works, or a building forming part of a gas-works; also
attrib. (
U.S.), designating a run-down area or its inhabitants (see also
quot. 1926);
gas-indicator, (
a) a device for showing the pressure of gas; (
b) (see
quot.);
gas-jar (see
quot. 1842);
gas kinetics, the study of the kinetic properties of gases; so
gas-kinetic a.;
gas-lantern, the glazed frame of a gas-lamp; also, see
quot. 1884;
gas laws Physics, a group of laws (as Boyle's law, Graham's law) that describe the physical properties of gases in general;
gas-lighter, (
a) a device for igniting gas; (
b) a cigarette-lighter in which the fuel is a gas;
gas-lime, lime which has been used to purify coal-gas (it is used as a dressing for land);
gas-liquid a., designating or pertaining to a chromatographic process in which the moving phase is gaseous and the stationary phase is liquid;
gas-liquor,
-main (see
quots.);
gas-mantle = mantle n. 5 g;
gas mask, a mask used as a protection against poisonous gas; hence
gas-masked adj.;
gas-meter, an apparatus which registers the amount of gas consumed;
gas-microscope, one in which the object is illuminated by oxyhydrogen light;
gas-motor, a gas-engine;
gas-office, the office of a gas-company;
gas officer, an army officer responsible for the precautionary measures taken against gas attacks;
gas oil (see
quot. 1949);
gas oven; (
a) an oven powered by gas; also, with reference to its use as a means of committing suicide; (
b)
= gas chamber (c);
gas-pendant, a gas-pipe suspended from the ceiling and fitted with one or more burners;
gas-pipe, (
a) a pipe for conveying gas; (
b) jocular term for a gun of inferior quality; (
c)
= gas-drain;
gas-pipe chair, a cantilever chair with legs and arms resembling gas-pipes;
gas-plate, a steel disk, in the Krupp gun, to receive the direct force of the powder-gases (
Cent. Dict.);
gas pliers (see
quot. 1940);
gas poker, a hollow poker perforated with holes through which gas can be made to flow, and which on being lit provides heat for kindling a fire;
gas-producer,
-purifier,
-range,
-register,
-regulator,
-retort (see
quots.);
gas-ring, (
a) a gas-check consisting of a thin perforated plate of metal; (
b) a hollow iron ring with perforations or jets, supplied with gas from a pipe, and forming a kind of lamp or stove for heating a vessel placed above it;
gas-sand, sandstone yielding a natural gas;
gas-service (see
quot.);
gas shell (see
quot. 1918);
gas show [
show n.1 5 c], a detected escape of natural gas at the surface, taken as indicating that oil may be present underground;
gas-spectrum, a spectrum formed from the rays of an incandescent gas;
gas-spurt, little heaps or lumps occurring on the surface of some strata, thought to be due to the intermittent escape of gas from decomposing organic matter;
gas starter (see
quot. 1935);
gas-stocks, the capital of gas-companies as a means of investment;
gas-stoker, one employed in the heating of gas-retorts;
gas-stoking, the heating of gas-retorts;
gas storage, the preservation of fruit and vegetables in carbon dioxide or other gases; so
gas stored adj.;
gas-stove, a stove in which the heat is supplied by gas;
gas-tap, a gas-cock;
gas-tar,
coal-tar produced in the manufacture of coal-gas; hence
gas-tar v. trans., to coat with gas-tar;
gas thermometer, one in which a column of gas is used as the expanding medium;
gas thread, a standard form of screw-thread of relatively fine pitch, used on metal tubes;
gas trap = trap n.1 8 a;
gas-tube,
-tubing, narrow piping (of metal or india-rubber) for the transmission of gas;
gas-turbine, a turbine in which the motive power is derived from a flow of gas; also (now more commonly), an internal combustion engine in which air is compressed, heated by combustion with fuel, and the expansion of the resulting hot gases used to power a turbine; also
attrib.;
gas-vacuole [a. G.
gasvacuole (H. Klebahn 1895, in
Flora LXXX. 252)], a type of vacuole found in certain bacteria and blue-green algæ, containing gas;
gas van, a mobile gas chamber (senses b and c above);
gas-washer, an apparatus for removing the ammonia from gas;
gas-water, water through which coal-gas has passed to be purified;
gas welding, fusion welding in which the metal is heated by the combustion of a gas; hence
gas-welded adj.;
gas-well, a boring in the earth, tapping a supply of natural gas;
gas-work, now
gas-works, an establishment for the manufacture of coal-gas;
gas-worker, one employed in making gas. Also
gas-bag,
gas-fitter,
gas-fitting,
gas-light,
gas-man,
gas-plant.
| 1866 Rep. Comm. Patents 1864 (U.S.) I. 364 The construction of a *gas alarm, for the protection of property. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 945/1 Another gas-alarm..consists of a galvanic battery with a bell. 1915 D. O. Barnett Lett. 183 There was a false gas alarm last night. 1938 Gas-alarm [see gas-detector below]. |
| 1933 A. F. Collins Exper. Telev. iv. 82 This great increase in sensitivity and current-carrying power is due to what is called *gas amplification. 1950 D. H. Wilkinson Ionization Chambers vi. 143 When fewer electrons are released in the initial ionization..the ‘signal’ must obviously be increased, and gas amplification may be resorted to. 1956 Nature 25 Feb. 391/1 The latter process, particularly photo-electric effects and positive ion bombardment of the cathode, have set an upper limit..to the gas-amplification which has been practicable in single-stage devices. |
| a 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 378/1 *Gas analyzer, an instrument for determining the presence and quantity of the gases obtained by the destructive distillation of coal. 1956 Nature 25 Aug. 407/1 A gas analyser depending on the variation of the velocity of sound with the nature of the gas. |
| 1859 Proc. R. Soc. IX. 218 In Bunsen's admirable method of *gas analysis, considerable time and trouble are expended in observing the exact temperature and pressure to which the gas is subjected at the time of measurement. 1887 W. Dittmar Quant. Chem. Analysis 155 Gas Analysis, in the customary acceptance of the term, comprises only the gas volumetric methods for the analysis of gaseous bodies. 1933 H. A. Daynes (title) Gas analysis by measurement of thermal conductivity. 1938 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) II. 687/1 The sensitiveness of spectroscopy as a method of gas analysis varies greatly according to the gas under test. |
| 1808 Murdoch in Phil. Trans. XCVIII. 128 The cost of attendance upon candles would be as much, if not more, than upon the *gas apparatus. |
| 1949 Trans. Illum. Engin. Soc. XIV. 19 The radiation from the *Gas Arc is characterised by an intense continuum extending from the ultra violet through the visible region into the infra red. 1951 W. R. Stevens Princ. Lighting v. 117 Xenon may be used in either air-cooled or water-cooled lamps (for example, the ‘gas arc’). 1960 H. Cotton Princ. Illumination xv. 390 The gas arc is the name given to the discharge at heavy current-density through one of the rare gases at high pressure. Ibid., Under gas-arc conditions there is an intense continuum covering the whole visible range. |
| 1881 W. D. Hay 300 Years Hence ix. 187 Supporting his car with a proportionately large *gas-balloon. 1914 H. M. Buist Aircraft in German War i. 19 An airship is any form of gas balloon fitted with motors, propellers and steering gear. |
| 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 247/1 *Gas barrel, the wrought iron tube used for conducting gas from the large mains..into buildings, and up to the point from which it is distributed by ‘compo’ pipes. 1937 Archit. Rev. LXXXI. 12 The heating in the cloak⁓rooms is by means of heating coils extending underneath boot lockers (which are constructed of welded gas-barrel) and behind seats under clothes pegs. |
| 1885 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Gas-bath, the exposure of the body to the influence of a gas. |
| Ibid., *Gas-battery, a galvanic battery devised by Grove. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 946/2 *Gas-bellows, a kindling device consisting of a hollow poker attached by a flexible tube with the gas-pipe. |
| 1882 ‘Mark Twain’ Stolen White Elephant 22 Three month's unpaid *gas-bills taken. 1892 Pall Mall G. 6 Dec. 6/2 The first gas bill was passed in 1809. 1969 Listener 9 Jan. 59/1 In these first weeks of the New Year the TV consumer is receiving his quota of new programmes, which arrive as inevitably as the quarterly gas bill. |
| 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Receipts Ser. ii. 261/2 A quicker way is to give the wood a coat of size and lamp-black, and then use *gas-black in your polish-rubber. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1272 As soon as any district has ceased to be dangerous by the exhaustion of the *gas-blowers. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 380/1 *Gas Boiler, a form of steam-boiler in which coal gas is used as fuel. |
| 1800 Henry Epit. Chem. (1808) 92 Introduce them into a small *gas-bottle or retort. 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 45 Gas bottle..in which gas may be generated..sufficient to inflate a good size balloon. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 946/2 *Gas-bracket, a branch proceeding from the wall, and having on its end a burner or burners. |
| 1897 Scientific Amer. 18 Dec. 389/1 Experimental acetylene *gas buoy for New York harbor. |
| 1815 in Phil. Mag. (1816) XLVII. 50 The *gas-burner and air-pipe..may be united with the lantern by the screw. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Ability Wks. (Bohn) II. 43 Gas-burners are cheaper than daylight in numberless floors in the cities. |
| 1941 Illustr. London News CXCVIII. 487 (caption) The men are all wearing *gas-capes. 1948 A. Baron From City from Plough 165 They sat in their shallow pits at the roadsides, huddled in their waterproof gas-capes. |
| 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 399/1 Coal-gas Charcoal, or *Gas-Carbon, is a dense and pure variety of charcoal..which is deposited in the inside of gas-retorts. |
| 1928 C. F. S. Gamble N. Sea Air Station xix. 334 Above us the *gas-cells are hanging limply down. |
| 1950 Chem. Abstr. XLIV. 6694 (heading) Convection processes in the *gas centrifuge. 1955 Sci. Abstr. A. LVIII. 391/1 The fractions of xenon drawn off at the two ends of the rotor of a gas centrifuge are enriched respectively in the heavy and light isotopes. 1967 New Scientist 6 Apr. 17/1 Capital investment in a gas centrifuge plant would probably be favourable with that of the gaseous diffusion plant. |
| 1960 Times 19 Oct. 15/3 The production of enriched uranium by *gas-centrifuging. |
| 1885 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Gas-chamber, an apparatus used in microscopy for..studying the action of different gases on structures or organisms. 1938 Times 12 Jan. 11/6 The only way to convince is to multiply the 40 Home Office gas-vans and allow anybody to put on a mask and enter the gas chamber. 1945 Daily Mirror 27 Sept. 8 The Germans knew what to do with women with white hair, or too exhausted to work. For them was the gas-chamber. 1953 Encounter Nov. 26/1 In the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Belsen, and other extermination camps, around six million human beings were put to death during the closing phase of the Second World War. 1969 Listener 3 July 11/3, I wanted to find out..what would have happened if Huey Newton had been sent to the gas chamber. |
| 1828 Blackw. Mag. XXIV 636 The Festal Hall is seen illuminated..with its *gas-chandeliers. |
| 1879 Man. Artillery Exerc. 14 The use of copper *gas checks..gives an increase in muzzle velocity. 1880 Times 27 Dec. 9/4 A copper gas check—which is used to prevent windage and give rotation to the projectile—is next attached to the shell. |
| 1952 J. Griffiths et al. in Analyst LXXVII. 897 Recent work on various *gas chromatographic techniques in the authors' laboratory is described. 1965 Phillips & Williams Inorg. Chem. I. xi. 416 More recently, gas chromatographic methods have been employed in which the hydrides are transferred in streams of oxygen-free hydrogen or nitrogen. |
| 1952 J. Griffiths et al. in Analyst LXXVII. 897 (title) Adsorption and partition methods. *Gas chromatography. 1961 Listener 7 Dec. 977/1 What is now called ‘gas chromatography’ allows mixtures of vapours to be analysed with the same degree of subtlety that is possible when liquids are being analysed by ‘paper chromatography’. 1967 New Scientist 25 May 463/1 Present gas chromatography units (in which the components of a mixture are separated by diffusing at different rates through a porous solid). |
| 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 88/2 The cannel coals..are specially recognized as ‘*gas coal’. |
| 1843 Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. 188 Any leakage..from a *gas-cock being inadvertently left open. |
| 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. iv. 99 If common *gas-coke be used in this furnace. |
| 1817 ‘Candidus’ Observ. Gas-Lights 48 If the *Gas Companies wish to extend the introduction of their lights. 1853 Ure Dict. Arts I. 876 By the use of the meter, gas companies are enabled to reduce the price of gas. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 947/2 *Gas-condenser. |
| 1884 *Gas cooker [see cooker 1]. 1935 Discovery Dec. 361/1 The allied gas, butane, compressed similarly in cylinders, is now in frequent use for gas-cookers etc. |
| 1886 Chambers's Jrnl. 5th Ser. III. 63/2 Six hundred pounds is saved yearly since the introduction of *gas-cooking. |
| 1949 C. Goodman Sci. & Engin. Nuclear Power II. x. 141 It is obvious that split-flow would be advantageous for *gas-cooled reactors... It would not be advantageous for liquid-cooled reactors. 1955 Sci. Amer. Oct. 58 Gas cooled reactor being built by British at Calder Hall is described as ‘the slow-speed reciprocating engine of the reactor world’. 1965 Listener 2 Sept. 342/3 This will use the now famous advanced gas-cooled atomic reactor which can produce electricity more cheaply than any other in the world. |
| 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 247/1 *Gas cylinders. Compressed gases are sent out in steel cylinders. 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 120 Recessions which they had been cutting out in the trenches for the reception of gas-cylinders. |
| 1886 Cassell's Fam. Mag. Feb. 189/1 (heading) A miner's *gas detector. 1895 Daily News 17 Aug. 5/3 If the electric light could be combined in a portable form with a gas-detector. 1938 Times 11 Feb. 11/4 The sentry sat watching his gas-detector, and when it changed colour he sounded the gas-alarm. |
| 1934 Webster, *Gas-discharge lamp. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 367/1 Gas-discharge tube. Generally, any tube in which an electric discharge takes place through a gas. Specially, a tube comprising a heated cathode, a grid, and an anode enclosed in an atmosphere of gas at low pressure, generally mercury vapour, argon, or neon. 1960 Times 11 Mar. 16/1 Considered as a light source, they [sc. glow-worms] are about three times as efficient as a gas-discharge lamp. 1969 Times 29 May 12/8 Based on an orange-red wavelength of light emitted by an isotope of the inert gas krypton, when stimulated in a standardized gas discharge tube, the system gives precision to about one part in 100 million. |
| 1885 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Gas-douche, the directing of a stream of gas to a part of the body. |
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, *Gas-drain. |
| 1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle (1887) 50 Mud, filth, *gas-dregs, lock-weirs, and the march of mind..have ruined the fishery. |
| 1949 O. G. Sutton Science of Flight 138 Flow problems in which density variations are produced or accompanied by large variations in velocity are said to belong to the science of *gas dynamics. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 947/2 The first *gas-engines were gunpowder engines. |
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts I. 435 A good *gas engineer will control the entire produce of his manufactory. |
| 1890 Monthly Packet Christmas 184 She certainly was not troubled with either *gas-escapes or School Boards. 1940 W. Empson Gathering Storm 46 He makes no leak we ought to mend Or gas-escape that should not blow. |
| 1889 Groves & Thorp Chem. Technol. I. 546 The *gas-fired boiler showed an evaporation of from 8·6 to 9·2 lbs. of water per lb. of coal. 1967 Times 17 Jan. 10/6 Heating units for gas-fired..central-heating systems. |
| 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 844/2 A more general remedy has been found in what is known as *gas-firing. 1961 Listener 12 Oct. 583/1 Dwellers in urban districts may find gas-firing has much to commend it. |
| 1897 Daily News 26 May 7/3 A *gas float is a species of beacon, shaped at the bottom like a ship, and carrying on a lofty pyramid the light, which is fed from a gas cylinder placed in the hull. |
| 1934 Discovery Nov. 324/2 Two classes of the [vacuum] tubes are made, hard and soft or *gas-focused tubes. 1959 Rider & Uslan Encycl. Cathode-Ray Oscill. (ed. 2) i. 11/1 One of the first (1922) cathode-ray tubes developed..was the Western Electric 224, a gas-focused type of tube. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 955/1 Croll's *gas-furnace..has an upper series of 6 clay retorts. 1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 844/2 Gas Furnaces. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 950/1 *Gas-gage, an instrument for ascertaining the pressure of gas. |
| 1914 Jrnl. R. Army Med. Corps XXIII. 514 There are some ten different organisms that have been isolated from cases of *gas gangrene in man. 1918 Nomencl. Dis. (ed. 5) 238 Bacillus œdematis maligni... The cause of malignant œdema and some cases of gas gangrene. 1939 Auden & Isherwood Journey to War 93 The sweet stench of gas-gangrene from a rotting leg. 1944 Ann. Reg. 1943 359 The routine use of the sulphonamides have made wound infections and gas gangrene relatively infrequent. |
| 1865 Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. X. 9 Dr. Scheirz's *gas-generator for puddling and heating furnaces. |
| 1924 R. H. Mottram Spanish Farm iii. 230 The *gas-gong hanging from a nail. |
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, etc. *Gas Governor, a kind of gas-meter..for equalizing the pressure of gas previous to its issuing from the gasometer. 1890 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. III. 355 The observatory was well fitted with gas governors. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 388 *Gas-gun, a signaling device, consisting of the explosion of gases in a pipe. 1896 W. W. Greener Gun & its Development (ed. 6) 756/1 Gas guns. 1955 L. Wesley Air-Guns & Air-Pistols ii. 18 The Giffard gas-gun created much interest when it first appeared on the English market. 1962 Daily Tel. 15 Nov. 1/7 A liquid or powder had been sprayed over them from a ‘gas gun’. |
| 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 115/1 *Gas harmonicon consists of a small flame of hydrogen or of coal gas, burning at the lower part of the interior of a glass tube, and giving out a very distinct note. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 950/2 The *gas-heater is sometimes made to assume the forms of grate-bars or logs of wood. |
| 1915 Punch 15 Dec. 488/3 Will officers please state how many *Gas Helmets they possess? 1916 A. Bennett Jrnl. 1 June (1932) II. 164 The ‘gas officer’ came down yesterday to inspect gas-helmet efficiency of troops. |
| 1802 Warwick in Phil. Mag. XIII. 256 Description of an improved *gas holder. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 552 The upper floating cylinder [of a gasometer] called the gas-holder. |
| 1880 G. N. Lamphere U.S. Govt. 227/1 The buildings connected with the hospital..are..*a gas-house [etc.]. 1923 T. S. Eliot Waste Land iii. 15 Fishing in the dull canal..round behind the gashouse. 1926 Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Slang 20 Gas-house district, district in city unsuitable for living; abode of gangsters. 1952 B. Cerf Good for Laugh 163 On the mound pitching for the old St. Louis Cardinal gas-house gang. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 389/1 *Gas Indicator, a device specially intended to indicate the presence of fire⁓damp in collieries. |
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, etc., *Gas Jars, glass jars for the holding of the gases during the progress of experiments. c 1865 J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 304/1 The gas jars are made of various sizes. |
| 1929 J. A. Ratcliffe Physical Princ. Wireless ii. 21 In a metal we suppose that there exist free electrons, which move about hither and thither in random directions with ‘*gas-kinetic’ velocities. 1937 Discovery Dec. 394/2 The main topics include..gas kinetics, magnetic and electric moments. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Gas-lantern maker. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 389/1 Gas Lantern, the Parisian ‘phare’ burner. |
| 1899 J. Walker Introd. Physical Chem. iv. 29 These simple *gas laws..apply in strictness only to ideal or ‘perfect’ gases. 1966 Barnard & Mansell Fund. Physical Chem. iii. 108 These Gas Laws are really generalizations about the behaviour of gases to which most conform only approximately. 1971 J. Howlett in B. de Ferranti Living with Computer ii. 12 The gas laws tell how the volume of a gas varies with pressure and temperature. |
| 1856 Rep. Comm. Patents 1855 (U.S.) I. 514 Improved *Gas-Lighter. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 790/1 It..is used as a gas-lighter, by developing a spark over the burner. 1962 R. Jeffries Exhibit No. 13 ii. 15 He flicked open a gas lighter. 1966 J. B. Priestley Salt is Leaving iii. 45 He..lit his pipe again, using what seemed to be an outsize gas lighter. |
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts I. 435 Foul *gas-lime or refuse, is somewhat more complex. 1882 Garden 1 Apr. 219/1 Any strong smelling preparation spread over the ground will be found very useful, such as gas-lime. |
| 1951 Biochem. Jrnl. XLVIII. p. vii/1 A *gas-liquid partition chromatogram of similar efficiency to a liquid-liquid partition chromatogram should lead to a better separation of the two compounds. 1952 Ibid. L. 679/2 The theory of gas-liquid chromatography differs from that of liquid-liquid chromatography..only by virtue of the fact that the mobile phase is compressible and thus produces a gradient of gas velocity down the column. 1963 Times 22 May (Margarine Suppl.) p. vi/3 The analysis of these fatty acids has been revolutionized by the development of gas-liquid chromatography. |
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, etc., *Gas Liquor. 1885 Syd. Soc. Lex., Gas-liquor, the ammoniacal liquid contained in the condensing apparatus of gas-works. |
| 1819 Accum Descr. Manuf. Coal Gas 243 All *gas mains laid in public streets should be placed [etc.]. 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, etc., Gas main, the principal pipes which conduct the gas from the gas works to the places where it is to be consumed. |
| 1900 Jrnl. Soc. Arts XLVIII. 460/2 The Incandescent *Gas Mantle and its Use. 1909 H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay iii. i. 282 The cerium and thorium alone were worth the money he extracted for the gas-mantles then in vogue. |
| 1915 War Illustr. 4 Sept. 69 French soldiers wearing anti-poison *gas masks and respirators. 1917 Ibid. 17 Feb. 15/3 An Austro-Hungarian infantryman with gas-mask. 1971 Daily Tel. 13 Sept. 1/5 Following an appeal to the rioters to free their captives, guards in watchtowers began putting on gas masks. |
| 1940 War Illustr. 5 Jan. 560 The *gas-masked gun crew are ready for all eventualities. |
| 1815 Specif. Clegg's Patent No. 3968 Another part of my invention is a gauge or rotative *gas-meter. 1865 J. A. Symonds Let. 5 Oct. (1967) I. 575 On reading our gas meter I found that a huge quantity must have been wasted. 1867 Thomson & Tait Nat. Phil. I. i. §414 The train of wheel-work in a gas-meter counts the number of revolutions of the main shaft. 1906 M. H. Baillie-Scott Houses & Gardens xl. 116 Rows of little houses..each with its gas-meter under the stairs. |
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxiv, ‘A pair of patent double million magnifyin' *gas microscopes of hextra power.’ 1871 tr. Schellen's Spectr. Anal. vi. 20 The oxyhydrogen light and the magnesium light are employed..in the gas microscope. |
| 1882 Maier tr. Hospitalier's Electricity iv. 264 *Gas motors..have rendered electric lighting economical. |
| 1825 Edin. Jrnl. Sci. July 88 The boy was then sent to the *gas-office to give information there of the smell. 1882 ‘Mark Twain’ Stolen White Elephant 22 Gas office broken open here during night. |
| 1916 *Gas officer [see gas helmet]. 1916 W. Owen Let. c 23 July (1967) 401, I may, thus, become Gas Officer. |
| 1901 Jrnl. Soc. Chem. Ind. Dec. 1257/1 Crude oil is now used instead of *gas oil in the making of gas. 1949 Thorpe's Dict. Appl. Chem. (ed. 4) IX. 390/2 Gas oil is the term broadly applied to petroleum distillates which distill between kerosene and lubricating oils... The term gas oil has been broadly applied to these distillates because of their use in carburetting water gas to raise its heating and illuminating value. However, they are widely used as domestic fuel oils and are in demand as cracking-plant charging oils. 1960 Which? Jan. 5/1 Larger burners, especially those for central heating boilers, use ‘gas oil’, sometimes marketed under proprietary names such as ‘Domestic Fuel Oil’. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 390/1 *Gas oven, one heated by gas jets. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 482 Many..women also commit suicide by..asphyxiating themselves by placing their heads in gas ovens. 1939 G. Greene Confid. Agent i. ii. 77 You've got to choose some line of action and live by it. Otherwise nothing matters at all. You probably end with a gas oven. 1945 ‘G. Orwell’ England your England (1953) 54 Was it true about the German gas ovens in Poland? 1968 J. R. Ackerley My Father & Myself xv. 163 It was the kind of shock that people must receive when some old friend..goes home and puts his head in the gasoven. |
| 1896 Corfield Dis. & Defect. Sanit. 30 Basement rooms with gas-brackets or *gas-pendants in them. |
| 1815 Accum Treat. Gas-Light (ed. 2) 155 The *gas-pipe communicating with the burner. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1271 He could confine..all the vitiated current to a mere gas-pipe or drift. 1883 Daily Tel. 9 July 5/7 The old Snider—the despair-breeding gaspipe of our Volunteers. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 238 These guns are not the ‘gas-pipes’ I have seen up north. 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier xii. 223 No one.. who has not looked at a gaspipe chair and reflected that the machine is the enemy of life. a 1942 L. G. Blochman See you at Morgue (1946) iii. 30 One of the chrome-plated gaspipe chairs..in Pen's living-room. |
| 1894 *Gas pliers [see monkey-wrench s.v. monkey n. 18 a]. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 367/2 Gas pliers, stout pliers with narrow jaws, the gripping faces of which are concave and serrated, to provide a secure grip on pipes, nipples, etc. |
| 1940 H. Brighouse in Best One-Act Plays 1940 49 It's a *gas-poker... You light it and put it under the coals. 1962 Which? Feb. 60/1 The fire lighters using gas were of two kinds: the gas poker, which is put into the fuel, and the underbar fire lighters, which are used under the grate. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Gas-producer, a furnace in which combustible gas is produced, to be used as fuel in another furnace. |
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, etc., *Gas purifier, a vessel into which the coal gas enters from the retorts..intended to deprive the impure gas of its sulphuretted hydrogen. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 391 *Gas-range, a form of cooking-stove heated by gas-jets. |
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, etc., *Gas Register is a simple instrument for indicating and registering the impurities of coal gas. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 954/1 Gas-register, an instrument by which the pressure of gas is indicated and recorded. |
| 1840 Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. 61 A new *Gas Regulator..to regulate the supply of gas to burners. |
| 1839 Ibid. 69 The incrustation on the interior of a *gas retort. 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, etc., Gas Retort, a vessel used for holding the coal or other material of which gas of any kind is to be made. |
| 1880 Daily Tel. 23 Dec., A *gas ring at the joint has been found..to prevent the escape of the powder gases on discharge [of the gun]. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 18 Dec. 1/3 You stirred them for five minutes on the gas-ring. 1954 T. S. Eliot Confid. Clerk i. 20 Cooking a sausage on a gas ring. |
| 18.. Amer. Jrnl. Sc. Ser. iii. XXVI. 309 (Cent.) The Sheffield *gas-sand, the lowest in Warren Co., is of Chemung age. |
| 1882 Ogilvie, *Gas service, gas-fittings or fixtures. |
| 1915 D. O. Barnett Lett. 204 Coming through a district where they'd been using *gas-shells. 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 257 Gas shells, ordinary shells from which the greater part of explosive has been taken and replaced by a poisonous liquid, which, when the shell bursts, turns into a poisonous vapor or gas. |
| 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 367/2 *Gas show. 1964 Times Rev. Industry Apr. 82/1 Shell once had a concession in the [Nile] delta and obtained some ‘gas shows’. |
| 1871 tr. Schellen's Spectr. Anal. xxiii. 76 A spectrum of bright lines, or a *gas-spectrum. |
| 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 294/1 *Gas-spurts. 1932 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVI. 853 The R.A.E. Mark I. *gas starter was still doing very good service, particularly in civil aviation. |
| 1935 C. G. Burge Compl. Bk. Aviation 585/2 Gas starter, a device whereby an engine is rotated for starting, by supplying gaseous combustible mixture under pressure to the cylinders during the power stroke. |
| 1895 Daily News 19 July 9/1 Several *gas stocks have improved. |
| 1889 Ibid. 5 Dec. 6/2 Threatened strike of *gas stokers. |
| 1889 Times (weekly ed.) 13 Dec. 3/2 To supply 1,000 soldiers to be taught *gas-stoking. |
| 1935 Economist 19 Nov. 949/1 Remarkable progress has been made in the ‘*gas’ storage of home-grown orchard fruit—i.e. storage in an atmosphere whose carbon dioxide content has been appreciably increased. |
| 1935 Ibid. 25 May 1230/1 English *gas-stored Bramleys and imported boxes of apples have sold well. |
| 1852 Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. 477 A small portable asbestos *gas-stove for heating apartments. 1853 F. Nightingale Let. Dec. in C. Woodham-Smith F. Nightingale (1950) vi. 122 The whole flue of a new gas stove came down the second time of using it. 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 266 (caption) Gas-stove. 1919 V. Woolf Night & Day x. 128 They sat..talking together over the gas-stove in Ralph's bedroom. 1967 K. Giles Death & Mr Prettyman viii. 157 Persuade Mrs Jewel to leave some stewy soup on the gas stove. |
| 1897 Westm. Gaz. 18 Feb. 10/1 Mr. Green met his death through the *gas-tap being too loose. |
| 1842 Johnson Farmer's Encycl. s.v. Gas-Works, *Gas Tar. This substance being..employed very commonly as a paint, has not been used as a manure to any extent. 1848 Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. 6. 321 Gas-tar is preferable as it leaves a strong..odour. |
| 1880 Sir W. Thomson in Encycl. Brit. XI. 574/1 We have accordingly designed a constant-pressure *gas thermometer. |
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 158 *Gas thread, a screw thread of fine pitch employed for wrought iron and brass tubes. 1902 Gas thread [see thread n. 5]. |
| 1882 ‘M. Harland’ Eve's Daughters 81 Nature scorns the use of patent *gas-traps. |
| 1815 Accum Treat. Gas-Light (ed. 2) 156 The *gas-tube enters through one of the claw-feet of the pedestal. |
| 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark 443 India-rubber is necessary, too..for hose, *gas-tubing, and innumerable domestic purposes. |
| 1904 Proc. Inst. Mech. Engin. Oct. 1061 (heading) A scientific investigation into the possibilities of *gas-turbines. Ibid. 1125 He did not see any immediate future for a gas-turbine, except in possibly utilizing the exhaust gases from reciprocating engines. 1930 Engineering 10 Jan. 38/2 The early development of what may possibly be the next important form of heat engine, the gas turbine. 1935 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 53 This invention relates to an aeroplane propelled by a constant pressure gas turbine, the exhaust gases of which are exhausted towards the rear at so high a velocity that their recoiling effect sustains or wholly replaces the propeller. 1948 Jane's Fighting Ships 1947–48 5 The first time gas turbines have ever been employed for the purpose of marine propulsion. 1957 Times 21 Dec. 5/3 Travel in the B.O.A.C. Britannia is..luxurious, and the low level of noise and vibration, which is a feature of gas turbine engined aircraft, makes a long journey less tiring. |
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 265/1 A *gas-vacuole..may be made to vary its volume with varying pressure. 1968 New Scientist 21 Nov. 437/1 Most planktonic blue-green algae possess gas-vacuoles, and the buoyancy that they confer tends to lead to the accumulation of the algae at the surface of natural waters in dense growths. |
| 1938 *Gas-van [see gas chamber above]. 1946 Ann. Reg. 1945 185 Mass-murder by shooting, the gas-van or the crematorium. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 958 Mr. Croll, an English gas-engineer, is credited with the invention of the *gas-washer now in use. |
| 1848 Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. 6. 338 Waterings..of weak *gas-water..would..be useful applications. |
| 1951 Archit. Rev. CX. 394/2 The ring main is of cast iron; risers and supply pipes are of copper, *gas-welded. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 958 *Gas welding-furnace, a heating jet, or cluster of jets, to heat pieces of metal locally, in order to bring them to a welding temperature. 1927 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXV. 911 Gas welding has many applications, particularly to chrome-molybdenum steel. |
| 1847 in Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. IV. 366 An account of the inflammable *Gas-wells on the banks of the Kanawha river. 1885 Public Opinion 9 Jan. 44/1 The latest revelation of our subterranean treasures [is] the natural gas wells. |
| 1819 Accum Descr. Manuf. Coal Gas title-p., Plans of the most improved sorts of apparatus now employed at the *Gas Works in London. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man 43 In one part of the modern delta..a large excavation has been made for gas-works. 1898 Pall Mall Mag. Jan. 120 The water..smelt like the lee-side of a gas works. |
| 1889 Daily News 5 Dec. 5/2 We are probably on the eve of a strike of *gas-workers in South London. |
Add:
[7.] gas-permeable a., of a contact lens: allowing the diffusion of gases into and out of the cornea.
| 1969 Amer. Jrnl. Optometry XLVI. 4 A gas-permeable contact lens could prevent this build-up of carbon dioxide in the cornea. 1985 Financial Rev. (Austral.) 8 Feb. 29/1 Gas-permeable lenses, which allow oxygen to pass through to the eye, are more comfortable than traditional hard contacts and have better vision correction than soft lenses. |
▸
gas constant n. Physical Chem. the constant of proportionality,
R, in the equation of state for an ideal gas,
nRT = PV, where
P is the pressure,
V is the volume,
n is the number of moles of gas, and
T is the absolute temperature;
cf. R n. 7.
The gas constant is approx. equal to 8.314 joule kelvin
-1 mole
-1.
| [1851 tr. R. Clausius in Philos. Mag. 2 7, pv = R(a + t),..where p, v, and t express the pressure, volume, and temperature, of the gas..and R also a constant.] 1890 W. Ostwald Outl. Gen. Chem. vii. 248 R being the *gas-constant (equal in thermal measurement to 2 cal. for a gram-molecular weight). 1994 New Scientist 3 Dec. 81/2 Boltzmann's entropy constant (the gas constant divided by Avogadro's number) is 1.4 x10-23 joules per kelvin. |
▸
gas giant n. Astron. a large planet composed mostly of gaseous material thought to surround a solid core;
spec. each of the four largest planets in the solar system (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune);
cf. giant planet n. at
giant n. and
adj. Additions.
| 1952J. Blish in J. Merril Beyond Human Ken 106 There was a magnetic field of some strength near by, one that didn't belong to the invisible *gas giant revolving half a million miles away. 1965 Listener 22 Apr. 596/1 This is Uranus, the third of the remote gas-giants, much larger than either Earth or Mars, but so distant that it is never easy to see with the naked eye. 1989 J. L. Casti Paradigms Lost vi. 350 There appears to be a strong tendency toward the formation of a planetary system consisting of a number of smaller inner planets, together with a few outer ‘gas giants’. 1996 Jrnl. Geophysical Res. E. 10 14817/1 Maximum durations are of the order of 10 hours for terrestrial planets, and several times this value for gas giants. |
▸
gas mark n. (also with capital initials)
Brit. Cookery (with following numeral) a specific temperature setting on a standard scale used for measuring oven temperature.
The precise temperatures represented can vary slightly, but broadly the scale rises in increments of 25°F (approx. 14°C) from gas mark 1 at 275°F (approx. 135°C) to gas mark 9 at 475°F (approx. 246°C).
| 1958 Berkshire Cookery Bk. (Berks. Federation Women's Inst.) 1 (table) Oven Chart... Type of Food..*Gas Mark..Approx. Temp. Centre Oven [etc.]. 1998 N. Lawson How to Eat (1999) 331 Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200°C and, using a pastry brush or just your fingers, dip in oil and lightly cover each side of each slice of bread. |
▪ II. gas, n.2 colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
(
gæs)
Abbrev. of
gasolene (
= petrol);
to step, tramp or tread on the gas,
to give it (or her) the gas: to accelerate a motor vehicle by pressing down the accelerator pedal; also
fig., to put on speed; to hurry.
| 1905 R. Beach Pardners (1912) v. 125, I turned the gas into the tug, blowin' for the Wells Street Bridge. 1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 22 Apr. 8/6 (Advt.), Having installed a new portable gasoline wagon we can supply you with ‘gas’ in record time from our Central Garage. 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap vii. 289 Once she'd tramped on the gas of a ninety-horse⁓power racer and socked him against a stone wall. 1918 E. M. Roberts Flying Fighter xvi. 236 We were to land the machines [sc. aeroplanes] to be refilled with gas and oil. 1920 C. W. Hoffman in C. L. Gregory Condensed Course Motion Pict. Photogr. xxii. 322 Any suggestion to him that—‘He get a move on’, or ‘Step on the gas’. 1924 W. M. Raine Troubled Waters viii. 81 Next moment she was pushing home the brake and shutting off the gas. 1926 A. Huxley Jesting Pilate iv. 297 Jazz it up. Keep moving. Step on the gas. 1929 Times 6 Nov. 15/4 The time may come when, to speed up the cause, he may tread on the gas with the best of them. 1932 Atlantic Monthly Mar. 314/1 The old Ford rocked and rattled as I gave it the gas. 1942 L. Rich We took to Woods (1948) 66, I remember shoving for dear life while Ralph gave her the gas. 1955 L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman xxviii. 249 Something that can keep people going and make them feel their value, which..is what we want to feel—without stepping on the gas and running people down. 1963 H. Garner in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 36 He claimed he didn't have enough gas in his car to drive him to the hospital. 1965 Priestley & Wisdom Good Driving iii. 27 More gas means more speed. Less gas means less speed. |
b. attrib. and
Comb., as
gas-pump,
gas rationing,
gas tank;
gas boat, a boat driven by a petrol-engine;
gas guzzler U.S. slang, a motor vehicle (
esp. a large car) that uses fuel extravagantly; also
transf., one who drives such a vehicle; so
gas-guzzling a., making inefficient use of fuel;
gas pedal, an accelerator pedal;
gas station, a filling-station.
| 1910 Our Navy (U.S.) III. xi. 21/1 The *gas boat bumps and mutters. 1959 Native Voice (Vancouver) Jan. 2/5 Chief Assu had four fine sons, each of whom he set up with a house and gas boat. |
| 1973 Washington Post 29 Apr. l1/4 Most of the *gas-guzzlers have big engines of 400 cubic inches or better. 1977 TV Guide (U.S.) 17 Sept. 70/2 Who really was off the beam..he..or I, the gas-guzzler? 1985 Washington Post 6 Nov. f1/3 The big American family sedan may be a gas-guzzler. But it can also be an insurance bargain. |
| 1968 Time 16 Aug. 62/3 What George Romney called the Big Three's ‘*gas-guzzling dinosaurs’. 1979 Tucson Mag. Apr. 17/3 Volgy asked the city to buy him a used bug instead of a gas-guzzling sedan. |
| 1961 A. Miller Misfits xi. 116 Guido turns sharply with them—the truck leaning dangerously—and works brake and *gas pedal simultaneously. |
| 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby i. 21 Garages, where new red *gas-pumps sat out in pools of light. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 47/5 (Advt.), B-A Gas pumps,..good highway, busy fishing. |
| 1951 in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 116/1 You willingly put up with *gas rationing. |
| 1932 E. Wilson Devil take Hindmost viii. 65 The city..cannot afford to have the *gas stations go broke. 1957 J. Kerouac On Road (1958) 149 Dean was wearing his gas-station coveralls. |
| 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 7 July 5/3 An extra ninety-gallon *gas tank has been installed in the Yorktown, giving her a non-stop cruising radius of 800 miles. |
▪ III. gas, v.1 (
gæs)
Inflected
gassing,
gassed.
[f. gas n.1] 1. trans. a. To supply with gas.
b. To light up (theatre scenes) with gas.
colloq.| 1886 Pall Mall G. 9 Dec. 4 The District trains are now ‘gassed’ only once a day. 1888 Scribner's Mag. Oct. 452/1 To ‘gas’ this act is an exceedingly difficult problem, for..a great variety of light-effects are introduced. |
c. To inflate with gas.
| 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXX. 48/2 Airship harbours have facilities for gassing airships with hydrogen. 1934 J. A. Sinclair Airships x. 204 The whole work of gassing the ship fell to the crew. |
2. To pass (a thread or textile fabric) through a gas-flame, in order to remove superfluous fibres.
| 1859 Smiles Self-Help iv. (1860) 91 The process of gassing lace and the bleaching of starch. 1890 Prosser in Dict. Nat. Biog. XXIV. 87/2 He [S. Hall] took out patents in 1817 and 1823 for ‘gassing’ lace and net. |
3. To impregnate (slaked lime) with chlorine, in the manufacture of bleaching-powder.
| 1880 [see gassed s.v. gassing, below]. |
4. to be gassed: to be poisoned by a gas. Also, to be subjected to a gas attack.
| 1889 L'pool Daily Post 19 Mar. 523/7 ‘Gassed’ was the term used in the india-rubber business, and it meant dazed. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 6 Feb. 5/2 A man..shouted..that he was ‘gassed’ (poisoned by the sulphuretted hydrogen gas). 1914 Glaister & Logan Gas Poisoning in Mining viii. 145 Recognising the characteristic action of carbon monoxide as causing powerlessness of the limbs long before, perhaps, total loss of consciousness supervenes, it can readily be understood that men are sometimes placed in most perilous positions by being gassed. 1915 Times 7 May 9/4 The men in hospital..who were ‘gassed’..on Hill 60. 1915 D. O. Barnett Let. 9 June 168 Young had to go off this morning to a village a few miles back to be gassed. He (and a lot of staff men) were put in a trench and given a dose, with respirators on of course. Ibid. 14 June 178 They say that round Wipers the German infantry is rotten..[and] won't advance if there is any fire to hold them up, that is, unless we're gassed out. 1919 G. K. Rose 2/4th Oxf. & Bucks Lt. Infty. 203 The Colonel,..Regimental Sergeant-Major and many signallers and runners, all found that they were gassed. 1922 Daily Mail 11 Nov. 7, 18 Girls ‘Gassed’. A number of employees were overcome by fumes..through a stopper flying from a cylinder of ammonia gas. Ibid. 14 Nov. 7 Army Officer Gassed in his Bath... Accidental Death, the result of poisoning by a gas escape from a geyser. Ibid. 20 Nov. 7 Residents of Horley, Surrey, complain of being ‘gassed’ by the fumes released in the breaking up of mustard gas shells at a dump near Gatwick Racecourse, about a mile and a half away. |
5. slang. (
Cf. gas n.1 5.)
a. trans. To deceive or impose upon by talking ‘gas’. Only
U.S.| 1847 Sk. Williams Coll. 72 (Hall College Wds.) Found that Fairspeech only wanted to ‘gas’ me, which he did pretty effectually. 1888 Scribner's Mag. Aug. 219 But in all the rest, he's gassin' you. |
b. intr. To indulge in ‘gas’ or empty talk; to vapour, to talk idly or boastfully.
orig. U.S.| 1852 F. A. Buck Let. 1 Jan. (1930) 95, I have been..doing the agreeable to the customers at the Hermitage Hotel..and gassing with travellers generally. 1875 Chamb. Jrnl. 25 Sept. 610 To ‘gas’ is to talk only for the purpose of prolonging a debate. 1878 Besant & Rice By Celia's Arbour xliv, The half dozen who went across to the States to gas about their victory. 1893 R. Kipling Many Invent. 38 I'm 'fraid I've been gassing awf'ly, sir. |
6. Of a storage battery or dry cell: to give off gas.
| 1902 E. J. Wade Second. Batteries 332 When once the surfaces of a pure lead anode in an electrolyte of dilute sulphuric acid are peroxidised and gassing. Ibid. 335 As a rule the positives commence to gas almost immediately the current passes. 1907 R. W. Vicarey Storage Batteries 7 The charge must be continued until every cell in the whole battery has become milky or ‘gasses freely’. 1950 G. W. Vinal Primary Batteries iv. 123 That dry cells do gas is well established, but..as the public normally uses them such gassing is negligible and the cause of no concern. 1964 G. Smith Storage Batteries iii. 45 Most of the charge is now being used in dissociating the water of the sulphuric acid solution into hydrogen and oxygen, and the cell begins to gas freely. |
7. trans. To impress or please enormously; to excite or thrill.
Cf. gas n.1 5 d.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1949 L. Feather Inside Be-Bop vi. 44 Woody, after a year's retirement, had decided to come back with a band that would ‘gas’ everyone. 1958 Sunday Express 19 Oct. 7/6 Duke Ellington said the visit ‘gassed’ him—a swing expression which means that he was thrilled. 1967 Crescendo Mar. 6/2 A..cadenza at the end of ‘Watermelon man’ which really gassed me. |
Hence
gassed ppl. a.,
ˈgassing vbl. n.| 1872 Lond. Figaro 14 Dec. (Farmer), There is no good to be got out of gassing about rallying around standards, uniting as one man to resist, etc. 1880 J. Lomas Alkali Trade 279 Through them [manholes] samples of the bleaching powder can be withdrawn, and cognisance taken of the progress of the ‘gassing’ operation. Ibid. 280 That no gas, or damp, gassed material shall effect a lodgement. 1886 Pall Mall G. 9 Dec., The ‘gassing’ of such a train would occupy ten minutes. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 13 Nov. 7/3 The gassing process in silk mills is..very injurious to health. |
▪ IV. gas, v.2 colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
(
gæs)
[f. gas n.2] 1. trans. To supply (a motor car) with petrol. Freq.
const. up.
| 1934 J. M. Cain Postman always rings Twice i. 18, I went to gas up a car. 1959 ‘J. R. Macdonald’ Galton Case (1960) x. 78 The attendant..was busy gassing a pickup truck. 1962 E. Ambler Light of Day ii. 25 You'd gone to gas up the car. |
2. intr. To fill
up the petrol tank of a motor car.
| 1962 E. S. Gardner Case of Blonde Bonanza (1967) xiv. 161 One of the city police picked up Dillard at a service station..where he was gassing up. 1967 W. Murray Sweet Ride x. 170 They'll know at the station, on account of they gas up there sometimes. |