: a solid, liquid, or gaseous substance that on dispersion in the atmosphere irritates mucous membranes resulting especially in blinding of the eyes with tears and that is used chiefly (as by the police and the military) to disperse large crowds of people
variants
or tear gas
or less commonly teargas
tear-gassed or tear gassed also teargassed; tear-gassing or tear gassing also teargassing; tear-gases or tear gasses also teargasses
: to use tear gas on
The troops then tear-gassed the crowd of several hundred, mostly teenagers and young men, which scattered in great confusion, but re-formed later.—
Roger Daniels
Roger DanielsExamples of tear gas in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
Los Angeles police threw tear gas into a home in Compton to try to force six members of the Symbionese Liberation Army to come out, but the canisters started a fire.
—USA Today, 6 May 2026
Lisa Song, ProPublica, 7 May 2026
Federal officers have shot munitions at his face respirator and at his back, and launched a tear-gas canister that sparked next to his leg and burned a hole in his costume, the complaint says.
—CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tear gas
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Noun
On the ground in Los Angeles, ICE agents and other local law enforcement fired a range of less-lethal weapons at protesters, such as pepper balls, hard foam rounds or canisters delivering flash-bang grenades and tear gas.
—Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
Los Angeles police threw tear gas into a home in Compton to try to force six members of the Symbionese Liberation Army to come out, but the canisters started a fire.
—USA Today, 6 May 2026
Verb
Families who live near an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, felt the effects inside their homes when officers tear-gassed the protesters who routinely gathered there.
—Lisa Song, ProPublica, 7 May 2026
Federal officers have shot munitions at his face respirator and at his back, and launched a tear-gas canister that sparked next to his leg and burned a hole in his costume, the complaint says.
—CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tear gas
Cite this Entry
“Tear gas.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tear%20gas. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
teargas
1 of 2 verb
tear·gas
ˈti(ə)r-ˌgas 
: to use tear gas on
tear gas
2 of 2 noun
: any of various substances that cause eye irritation and blind the eyes with tears when released into the air and that are used mostly to scatter mobs
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