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sodium cyanide
noun
: a white deliquescent poisonous salt NaCN used especially in electroplating, in fumigating, and in treating steel
Examples of sodium cyanide in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Officials bought potassium cyanide instead of sodium cyanide.
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Jimmy Jenkins, The Arizona Republic, 5 Dec. 2024
Mycrocystin-LR, which is commonly produced by cyanobacteria blooms, is actually more toxic than sodium cyanide.
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Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2014
The unknown poisoner in the Tylenol murders used potassium cyanide, which is 10 times more soluble than sodium cyanide.
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Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2022
Potassium cyanide and sodium cyanide, meanwhile, are soluble, ingestible crystals.
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Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2022
In the case of lethal gas executions, accounts from witnesses have described how levers are used to drop a sodium cyanide mixture into a pot of sulfuric acid below the inmate, who's strapped into a chair.
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NBC News, 14 June 2021
The protocol specifically calls for using sodium cyanide packets.
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Robert Anglen, The Arizona Republic, 6 June 2021
When a predator stumbles across one of these devices, a capsule containing sodium cyanide, a highly toxic pesticide, is ejected into its mouth.
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Mariel Padilla, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Aug. 2019
When animals bite down, the traps release sodium cyanide into their mouths, killing them.
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Madeleine Carlisle, Time, 5 Dec. 2019
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Word History
First Known Use
1885, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near sodium cyanide
Cite this Entry
“Sodium cyanide.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sodium%20cyanide. Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.
More from Merriam-Webster on sodium cyanide
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sodium cyanide
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