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fixed air

noun

Etymology

Coined by Scottish chemist Joseph Black in 1756 because it can be absorbed, or fixed, by strong bases.

Definitions

  1. Carbon dioxide

    Carbon dioxide; carbonic acid.

    • The wild gas, the fixed air is plainly broke loose: but we ought to suspend our judgement until […] we see something deeper than the agitation of a troubled and disturbed surface.
    • Lavoisier then elucidated the exchange of gases in the lungs: the air inhaled was converted into Black's fixed air, whereas the nitrogen (‘azote’) remained unchanged.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for fixed air. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA