mustard gas

noun

: an irritant vesicant oily liquid C₄H₈Cl₂S used especially as a chemical weapon

Examples of mustard gas in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Within his first year at the front, Malaparte was exposed to mustard gas, leaving a pulmonary lesion that, nearly forty years later, contributed to his death. —Thomas Meaney, New Yorker, 2 July 2025

Iraqi aircraft dropped mustard gas on the Iranian city of Sardasht in the West Azerbaijan province on June 28, 1987, killing 130 people and injuring around 8,000. —Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025

The chemicals, including sarin, mustard gas and chlorine gas, represent a major test for Syria’s caretaker government. —Natasha Frost, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025

Earlier this year, the organization also determined that the Islamic State group used mustard gas in an attack on the town of Marea. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mustard gas

• candlemas
• fiberglass
• fibreglass
• hourglass
• isinglass
• lemongrass
• martinmas
• orchardgrass
• overpass
• plexiglas
• plexiglass
• sassafras

Kids Definition

mustard gas

noun

: a poisonous gas used in war that has strongly irritating and especially blistering effects

Medical Definition

mustard gas

noun

: an irritant oily liquid C₄H₈Cl₂S used especially as a chemical weapon that causes blistering, attacks the eyes and lungs, and is a systemic poison

called also dichlorethyl sulfide, sulfur mustard