gases
noun
Simple meaning
Matter in an intermediate state between liquid and plasma that can be contained only if it is fully surrounded by a solid.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
gasuhzSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡæsəz
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountablephysical chemistry
Matter in an intermediate state between liquid and plasma that can be contained only if it is fully surrounded by a solid (or in a bubble of liquid, or held together by gravitational pull); it can condense into a liquid, or can (rarely) become a solid directly by deposition.
uncountablemilitary
Poison gas.
countable
A hob on a gas cooker.
uncountable
A flammable gaseous hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture used as a fuel, e.g. for cooking, heating, electricity generation or as a fuel in internal combustion engines in vehicles, especially natural gas.
uncountable
Methane or other waste gases trapped in one's belly as a result of the digestive process; flatus.
uncountablecanadausnew zealandphilippines
Gasoline, a light derivative of petroleum used as fuel.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (uncountable, physical chemistry) Matter in an intermediate state between liquid and plasma that can be contained only if it is fully surrounded by a solid (or in a bubble of liquid, or held together by gravitational pull); it can condense into a liquid, or can (rarely) become a solid directly by deposition.
Used this way, gases is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Measurement of the pH level and the oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations in arterial blood.
A theory that gases consist of small particles in random motion.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.