ethanol

noun

eth·​a·​nol ˈe-thə-ˌnȯl  -ˌnōl 

 British also  ˈē-

: a colorless volatile flammable liquid C₂H₅OH that is the intoxicating agent in liquors and is also used as a solvent and in fuel

called also ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol

Examples of ethanol in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Thousands of emails and a few years later, the researchers had collected dead mosquitoes — preserved in ethanol — from more than 200 sources across 50 countries. —Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025

This movement allows extraction and oxidation, but holds the ethanol in and reduces evaporation. —Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 24 Oct. 2025

The new 400-megawatt power plant will be built at an industrial site run by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), which already has nearly a decade of experience in safely storing CO₂ from ethanol production. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 23 Oct. 2025

Greater market access is also being discussed for dairy inputs and ethanol, the unnamed sources said. —Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for ethanol

• aerosol
• alcohol
• arbitral
• basketball
• butanol
• cannonball
• carbinol
• catarrhal
• cortisol
• fireball
• gasohol
• guaiacol

Kids Definition

ethanol

noun

eth·​a·​nol ˈeth-ə-ˌnȯl 

-ˌnōl

: a colorless flammable easily evaporated liquid that is used to dissolve things and that is the substance in fermented and distilled liquors that can make one drunk

called also ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol

Medical Definition

ethanol

noun

eth·​a·​nol ˈeth-ə-ˌnȯl  -ˌnōl 

: a colorless volatile flammable liquid C₂H₅OH that is the intoxicating agent in liquors and is also used as a solvent

called also ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol

see alcohol sense 1