Gas  

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A Scheme for abolishing all Words is one of the wittiest and smartest comments on semantics. (Illustration: extreme close-up from the movie "The Big Swallow" (1901), produced and directed by James Williamson (1855-1933)
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A Scheme for abolishing all Words is one of the wittiest and smartest comments on semantics. (Illustration: extreme close-up from the movie "The Big Swallow" (1901), produced and directed by James Williamson (1855-1933)

Etymology 1

From Dutch gas, a word coined by chemist Van Helmont. Perhaps inspired by Dutch & Flemish gheest "breath, vapour, spirit" or from Greek khaos. More at ghost, ghastly

Noun

  1. Matter in a state intermediate between liquid and plasma that can be contained only if it is fully surrounded by a solid (or held together by gravitational pull); it can condense into a liquid, or can (rarely) become a solid directly.
    A lot of gas had escaped from the cylinder
  2. A chemical element or compound in such a state.
    The atmosphere is made up of a number of different gases
  3. An inflammable gaseous hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture (typically predominantly methane) used as a fuel, e.g. for cooking, heating or electricity generation.
    Gas-fired power stations have largely replaced coal-burning ones.
  4. Methane or other waste gases trapped in one's belly as a result of the digestive process.
    My tummy hurts so bad, I have gas.
  5. A humorous event or person.
    He is such a gas!




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Gas" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on original research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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