CYANIDE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does cyanide mean? 

• CYANIDE (noun)
  The noun CYANIDE has 2 senses:

1. any of a class of organic compounds containing the cyano radical -CN

2. an extremely poisonous salt of hydrocyanic acid

  Familiarity information: CYANIDE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CYANIDE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of a class of organic compounds containing the cyano radical -CN

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

cyanide; nitril; nitrile

Hypernyms ("cyanide" is a kind of...):

organic compound (any compound of carbon and another element or a radical)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cyanide"):

acrylonitrile; propenonitrile; vinyl cyanide (a colorless liquid unsaturated nitrile made from propene)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An extremely poisonous salt of hydrocyanic acid

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("cyanide" is a kind of...):

salt (a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cyanide"):

sodium cyanide (a white poisonous salt (NaCN) used in electroplating)

potassium cyanide (a poisonous salt (KCN) used in electroplating and in photography)

 Context examples 

If membrane-like structures could be formed by vinyl cyanide, it would be an important step on the pathway to life on Saturn’s moon Titan.

(NASA Finds Moon of Saturn Has Chemical That Could Form ‘Membranes’, NASA)

Previously, CIRS data helped identify hydrogen cyanide ice in clouds over Titan's south pole, as well as other toxic chemicals in the moon's stratosphere.

(NASA Team Finds Noxious Ice Cloud on Saturn’s Moon Titan, NASA)

These complexes probably acted as sources of cyanide on early Earth as well.

(Cyanide Compounds Discovered in Meteorites May Hold Clues to the Origin of Life, NASA)

Cyanide keeps cells in the body from using oxygen, so they die.

(Cyanide, NCI Dictionary)

This species is motile, indole negative, hydrolyzes esculin, oxidase negative, reduces nitrate and does not grow in culture in the presence of potassium cyanide.

(Enterobacter gergoviae, NCI Thesaurus)

Glycosides are stored in the vacuoles and require cytoplasmic enzymatic activation to release cyanide aglycone from the glycone.

(Cyanogenic glucoside, NCI Thesaurus)

A plant compound that contains sugar and produces cyanide.

(Cyanogenic glucoside, NCI Dictionary)

They performed a series of laboratory experiments to measure how quickly the building blocks of life can be formed from hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulphite ions in water when exposed to UV light.

(Scientists identify exoplanets where life could develop as it did on Earth, University of Cambridge)

Delicate clouds made from cyanoacetylene and hydrogen cyanide, which form from reactions of methane byproducts with nitrogen molecules, also have been found there.

(NASA Finds Methane Ice Cloud in Titan's Stratosphere, NASA)

Heliconians have evolved to produce their own cyanide which makes them highly poisonous and they have distinct and brightly coloured wings which act as a warning to would-be predators.

(Butterflies are genetically wired to choose a mate that looks just like them, University of Cambridge)