tear gas

1. 1.

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

   Synonymsteargaslacrimatorlachrymator

   Broadergaschemical weapon

   Narrowerchlorobenzylidenemalononitrilechloroacetophenonenitrochloromethane

Questions about tear gas

What does tear gas mean?

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

What is another word for tear gas?

Close synonyms include teargas, lacrimator, lachrymator. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is tear gas a common word?

tear gas is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.