mercaptan

[ mer-kap-tan ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Chemistry.

any of a class of sulfur-containing compounds having the type formula RSH, in which R represents a radical, and having an extremely offensive, garlicky odor.

mercaptan

/ mɜːˈkæptæn /

mercaptan

/ mər-kăp′tăn′ /

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1825–35; < Latin, short for phrase corpus mercurium captāns body capturing quicksilver

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C19: from German, from Medieval Latin mercurium captans, literally: seizing quicksilver

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"And butyl mercaptan; I'm quite aware of that," said the Doctor quickly, to continue the tradition of omniscience.

True, it smelled like an ancient Earth-animal called skunk—butyl mercaptan.

We tried cayenne pepper and n-butyl mercaptan—the main ingredient in "polecat essence."

The stuff smelled like a mixture of spirits of ammonia and butyl mercaptan, but it did the job.

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