Word.ws English Dictionary

chloroform

Syllables: chlo·ro·form/ˈklɒɹə(ʊ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)m/

chloroform noun: a halogenated hydrocarbon, trichloromethane, CHCl₃; it is a volatile, sweet-smelling liquid, used extensively as a solvent and formerly as an anesthetic.

Noun

chloroform (uncountable)

  1. A halogenated hydrocarbon, trichloromethane, CHCl₃; it is a volatile, sweet-smelling liquid, used extensively as a solvent and formerly as an anesthetic.
    • Some assume that chloroform is a gas because it was given by inhalation.
    • If vapour of chloroform be passed over red-hot iron or copper it is entirely decomposed.1838, Thomas Thomson, “Chloroform”, in Chemistry of Organic Bodies, Vegetables, page 313

Verb

chloroform (third-person singular simple present chloroforms, present participle chloroforming, simple past and past participle chloroformed)

  1. (transitive) To treat, or to render unconscious, with chloroform.
    • Geoffrey was first chloroformed, I think. The hand that picked Nipper up to dispose of him had certainly touched chloroform just before. Drugged; does that bring us nearer by taking us further away, I wonder?1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London

chloroform meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada

chloroform in Hindi

(chemistry) an anesthetic
क्लोरोफार्म klorophārm

chloroform in Tamil

குளோரோபார்ம் மயக்க மருந்து, குளோரபோம், குளோரோஃபார்ம்

chloroform in Malayalam

ക്ലോറെഫോം

chloroform in Kannada

ಕ್ಲೋರೊಫಾರಮ್, ಎಣ್ಣೆ
More languagesFewer languages
chloroform in Tagalog
kloropormo
chloroform in Arabic
كْلُورُوفُورْم klurufūrm
chloroform in Thai
คลอโรฟอร์ม klɔɔ-roo-fɔɔm

Examples of chloroform in a sentence

  • He stupefied her by means of chloroform, a general anaesthetic.
  • The supposition that Geoffrey had been chloroformed was a reasonable hypothesis at that stage of the disclosure.
  • Murder by chloroform didn't leave much evidence behind.

All 10 example sentences with chloroform

Synonyms of chloroform

Forms of chloroform

third-person singular presentchloroforms
present participlechloroforming
past participlechloroformed
pastchloroformed

Origin of chloroform

Borrowed from French chloroforme, portmanteau of terchloride (tertiary chloride, trichloride) and formyle (CH, an obsolete radical of formic acid) by Jean-Baptiste Dumas, from 1834. By surface analysis, chloro- + -form.

Words formed from chloroform

Words that rhyme with chloroform

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about chloroform

What does chloroform mean?
Chloroform means a halogenated hydrocarbon, trichloromethane, CHCl₃; it is a volatile, sweet-smelling liquid, used extensively as a solvent and formerly as an anesthetic.
What is chloroform in Hindi?
Chloroform in Hindi is क्लोरोफार्म (klorophārm). See Chloroform meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is chloroform?
Chloroform can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce chloroform?
Chloroform is pronounced /ˈklɒɹə(ʊ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)m/.

Words near chloroform in the dictionary

  1. chlorofluoroalkene
  2. chlorofluorocarbon
  3. chlorofluorocarbons
  4. chlorofluoromethane
  5. chlorofluoromethanes
  6. chloroform
  7. chloroformate
  8. chloroformates
  9. chloroformed
  10. chloroformer
  11. chloroformers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: chloroform (page history and authors); chloroform (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); chloroform (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); chloroform (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “chloroform.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chloroform. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.