methyl isocyanate

noun

: an extremely toxic chemical CH3NCO used especially in the manufacture of pesticides
abbreviation MIC

Examples of methyl isocyanate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In Bhopal, a methyl isocyanate gas leak at a pesticide plant spread toxic gas for a 7-kilometer radius, exposing more than half a million people in the city of Bhopal to the gas and led to up to 30,000 deaths in the region. City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2023 India suffered the world's worst industrial disaster in 1984 when methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide factory owned by American Union Carbide Corporation in the city of Bhopal, killing more than 5,000 people. Reuters, CNN, 7 Jan. 2022 The need for more information from chemical manufacturers and users became a global priority in 1984 when a Union Carbide plant released a burst of methyl isocyanate, an extremely toxic gas that killed at least 3,800 and, by some accounts, as many as 16,000 people in Bhopal, India. Michael Hawthorne, chicagotribune.com, 17 May 2021 In 1984, India suffered the world's worst industrial disaster when methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide factory in the city of Bhopal, killing more than 5,000 people and injuring more than half a million others. Aj Willingham, CNN, 7 Jan. 2022 Shortly after midnight on December 3, 1984, in the central Indian city of Bhopal, a tank in a pesticide factory leaked, releasing methyl isocyanate into the night sky. Vidya Krishnan, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2021 In a major industrial disaster in India in 1984, at least 2,850 people were killed and 20,000 injured when methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a tank at Union Carbide India Ltd.’s Bhopal plant in central India. NBC News, 7 May 2020 In 1984, thousands of people died after a cloud of methyl isocyanate gas escaped from a pesticide plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India. BostonGlobe.com, 3 Dec. 2019 Last year, the same team uncovered a more complex molecule (methyl isocyanate) in a star-forming region more than 400 light years away from Earth. Luba Ostashevsky, Ars Technica, 26 Feb. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'methyl isocyanate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of methyl isocyanate was in 1889

Dictionary Entries Near methyl isocyanate

Cite this Entry

“Methyl isocyanate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/methyl%20isocyanate. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Medical Definition

methyl isocyanate

noun
meth·​yl iso·​cy·​a·​nate
-ˌī-sō-ˈsī-ə-ˌnāt
: an extremely toxic chemical CH3NCO that is used especially in the manufacture of pesticides and was the cause of numerous deaths and injuries in a leak at a chemical plant in Bhopal, India, in 1984
abbreviation MIC

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