• Xylene

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /ˈzaɪliːn/

    Origin

    From Ancient Greek ξύλον (ksulon, "wood") + -ene.

    Full definition of xylene

    Noun

    xylene

    (plural xylenes)
    1. (chemistry) Any of a group of three isomeric aromatic hydrocarbons, di-methyl-benzene, found in coal and wood tar.
      • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 262:... proceeding, desperately, from such opiated catarrh preparations as Collis Brown's Mixture on to cocainized brain tonics, cigarettes soaked in absinthe, xylene in unventilated rooms, and so on ....
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