luminol
/ˈljuːmɪnɒl/US/ˈluːmɪnɒl/
luminol noun: the compound 5-amino-2,3-dihydro-1,4-phthalazinedione, which exhibits blue chemiluminescence when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent.
Noun
luminol (countable and uncountable, plural luminols)
- The compound 5-amino-2,3-dihydro-1,4-phthalazinedione, which exhibits blue chemiluminescence when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent.
- The board was fully supportive, Mr. McDevitt said, even when Mr. Wheeler needed to buy a gallon of cow’s blood and a supply of luminol, a blood-detection chemical.2006 September 23, Jill P. Capuzzo, “Teaching Inspector Clouseau to Be Sherlock Holmes”, in The New York Times
Verb
luminol (third-person singular simple present luminols, present participle (US) luminoling or (UK) luminolling, simple past and past participle (US) luminoled or (UK) luminolled)
- To test or subject a sample or an individual to a luminol agent in order to locate traces of blood.
- Luminoling of material can establish unequivocally that no blood is present.1997, United States. Court of Military Appeals, West Publishing Company (contributors), West's Military Justice Reporter, volume 46, page 860
- For two nights Patterson, Frosch, and Nabors Luminoled the house, checking and re-checking the evidence they found.1997, Patricia Springer, Flesh and Blood, page 105
Examples of luminol in a sentence
- Perhaps the auto warrant had gone through and the vehicle was being raked and combed and vacuumed and luminoled in some forensic garage.2000, Jonathan Kellerman, Dr. Death, An Alex Delaware Novel, page 314:
- The crime scene unit was all over the apartment, photographing, luminoling, vacuuming, plucking with tweezers.2004, John Lutz, Darker Than Night, page 13:
- Lester brings the hard-shelled golf bag in and Grissom luminols the interior of the case.2004, Mike Flaherty, Corinne Marrinan, Anthony E. Zuiker, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Companion, page 201:
- He answered Walt's puzzled expression by explaining," We luminoled her." He picked up a tube light from a workstation.2007, Ridley Pearson, Killer Weekend, page 201:
Forms of luminol
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | luminols |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | luminols |
| present participle US | luminoling |
| present participle UK | luminolling |
| past participle US | luminoled |
| past US | luminoled |
| past participle UK | luminolled |
| past UK | luminolled |
Origin of luminol
First use appears in 1934 in a paper by E. Huntress, L. Stanley, and A. Parker. The verbal form first appears c. 1997, although the exact date of its first appearance is uncertain.
Words formed from luminol
Questions about luminol
- What does luminol mean?
- Luminol means the compound 5-amino-2,3-dihydro-1,4-phthalazinedione, which exhibits blue chemiluminescence when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent.
- How do you use luminol in a sentence?
- Perhaps the auto warrant had gone through and the vehicle was being raked and combed and vacuumed and luminoled in some forensic garage.
- What part of speech is luminol?
- Luminol can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce luminol?
- Luminol is pronounced /ˈljuːmɪnɒl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of luminol?
- The plural of luminol is luminols.
Words near luminol in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: luminol (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-luminol.wav.
Cite this entry: “luminol.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/luminol. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.