nitrous oxide
nounDefinition of nitrous oxide
: a colorless gas N2O that when inhaled produces loss of sensibility to pain preceded by exhilaration and sometimes laughter, that is used especially as an anesthetic in dentistry and as a fuel, and that is an atmospheric pollutant and greenhouse gas produced by combustion
— called also laughing gas
— compare nitric oxideExamples of nitrous oxide in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Gases like methane, water vapor, nitrous oxide, ozone, and carbon dioxide filter out much of the sun's harmful radiation while trapping its heat, allowing a temperate climate to emerge. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "How Heat Waves Work (and Why They're Getting Worse)," 30 Aug. 2019 According to the United Nations, beef alone is responsible for 41% of livestock greenhouse gas emissions, such as methane and nitrous oxide. — Edvige Jean-françois, CNN, "Could fake meat burgers make cows obsolete?," 22 Aug. 2019 Human activities have increased the amount of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emitted from land. — Los Angeles Times, "Land use policy key to reining in global warming, U.N. report warns," 8 Aug. 2019 Ambient concentrations of fine particulates and nitrous oxide, but not ozone, decreased significantly over the study period, the researchers said. — Katie Hunt, CNN, "Exposure to polluted air is like smoking a pack a day, study says," 14 Aug. 2019 And 75 percent of nitrous oxide emission — another potent greenhouse gas — comes from nitrogen fertilizer. — Courtland Milloy, Washington Post, "Climate change is here, and we can no longer wait for someone to save us," 13 Aug. 2019 Up to 75 percent of nitrous oxide emissions — almost 300 times more the warming potential of carbon dioxide — comes from nitrogen fertilizer. — Umair Irfan, Vox, "Report: we have to change how we use land and produce food to fight climate change," 8 Aug. 2019 Thermal power generation accounts for 80% of India’s industrial emissions of particulate matter and sulphur and nitrous oxides, which often create toxic smog and cause lung diseases. — Kuwar Singh, Quartz India, "Cleaning up its coal power plants will cost India $10 billion—but who will pay?," 7 Aug. 2019 At the same time, the total in 2015 of nearly 127 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other emissions is a long way from the goals in a new law targeting climate change and air pollution. — Judith Kohler, The Denver Post, "For the first time, Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions trending down," 12 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nitrous oxide.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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