sodium cyanide

noun

: a white deliquescent poisonous salt NaCN used especially in electroplating, in fumigating, and in treating steel

Examples of sodium cyanide in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Officials bought potassium cyanide instead of sodium cyanide. Jimmy Jenkins, The Arizona Republic, 5 Dec. 2024 Mycrocystin-LR, which is commonly produced by cyanobacteria blooms, is actually more toxic than sodium cyanide. Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2014 The unknown poisoner in the Tylenol murders used potassium cyanide, which is 10 times more soluble than sodium cyanide. Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2022 Potassium cyanide and sodium cyanide, meanwhile, are soluble, ingestible crystals. Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2022 In the case of lethal gas executions, accounts from witnesses have described how levers are used to drop a sodium cyanide mixture into a pot of sulfuric acid below the inmate, who's strapped into a chair. NBC News, 14 June 2021 The protocol specifically calls for using sodium cyanide packets. Robert Anglen, The Arizona Republic, 6 June 2021 When a predator stumbles across one of these devices, a capsule containing sodium cyanide, a highly toxic pesticide, is ejected into its mouth. Mariel Padilla, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Aug. 2019 When animals bite down, the traps release sodium cyanide into their mouths, killing them. Madeleine Carlisle, Time, 5 Dec. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sodium cyanide was in 1885

Dictionary Entries Near sodium cyanide

Cite this Entry

“Sodium cyanide.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sodium%20cyanide. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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