formaldehyde

Noun

formaldehyde (countable and uncountable, plural formaldehydes)

1. The simplest aldehyde, HCHO, a colourless gas that has many industrial applications; it dissolves in water to give formol (10%) and formalin.
   • The shark chosen to replace the original was injected with 224 gallons of formaldehyde, ten times the amount used on the first shark and in a stronger concentration.2010, Don Thompson, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, Aurum Press Limited, →ISBN
   • Back in 2006, Hirst found himself at the centre of a different debate arising out of the need to refurbish or update formaldehyde pieces that are prone to decay. It related to the piece that made him famous: the formaldehyde shark The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living...2024 March 19, Maeve McClenaghan, “Damien Hirst formaldehyde animal works dated to 1990s were made in 2017”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms:

   E240, methanal