TEAR GAS

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tear gas mean? 

• TEAR GAS (noun)
  The noun TEAR GAS has 1 sense:

1. a gas that makes the eyes fill with tears but does not damage them; used in dispersing crowds

  Familiarity information: TEAR GAS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TEAR GAS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A gas that makes the eyes fill with tears but does not damage them; used in dispersing crowds

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

lachrymator; lacrimator; tear gas; teargas

Hypernyms ("tear gas" is a kind of...):

chemical weapon (chemical substances that can be delivered using munitions and dispersal devices to cause death or severe harm to people and animals and plants)

gas (a fluid in the gaseous state having neither independent shape nor volume and being able to expand indefinitely)

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

chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile; CS gas (a tear gas that is stronger than CN gas but wears off faster; can be deployed by grenades or cluster bombs; can cause skin burns and fatal pulmonary edema)

chloroacetophenone; CN gas (a tear gas that is weaker than CS gas but lasts longer)

nitrochloromethane (gaseous form of chloropicrin used as tear gas)