Crossword clues for disinfectant
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
disinfectant \dis`in*fect"ant\, n. That which disinfects, especially an agent for killing or removing the microorganisms which cause infection. Commonly used disinfectants are chlorine, sodium hypochlorite solution, hydrogen peroxide, and alcohol.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1837, from French désinfectant (1816), noun use of present participle of désinfecter (see disinfect). From 1875 as an adjective.
Wiktionary
a. Referring to something that contains a disinfectant or has the property of a disinfectant. n. A substance that kills germ and/or virus.
WordNet
adj. preventing infection by inhibiting the growth or action of microorganisms [syn: bactericidal, germicidal]
n. an agent (as heat or radiation or a chemical) that destroys microorganisms that might carry disease [syn: germicide, antimicrobic, antimicrobial]
Wikipedia
Disinfectants are antimicrobial agents that are applied to non-living objects to destroy microorganisms that are living on the objects. Disinfection does not necessarily kill all microorganisms, especially resistant bacterial spores; it is less effective than sterilization, which is an extreme physical and/or chemical process that kills all types of life. Disinfectants are different from other antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics, which destroy microorganisms within the body, and antiseptics, which destroy microorganisms on living tissue. Disinfectants are also different from biocides — the latter are intended to destroy all forms of life, not just microorganisms. Disinfectants work by destroying the cell wall of microbes or interfering with the metabolism.
Sanitizers are substances that simultaneously clean and disinfect. Disinfectants are frequently used in hospitals, dental surgeries, kitchens, and bathrooms to kill infectious organisms.
Bacterial endospores are most resistant to disinfectants, but some viruses and bacteria also possess some tolerance.
In wastewater treatment, a disinfection step with chlorine, ultra-violet (UV) radiation or ozonation can be included as tertiary treatment to remove pathogens from wastewater, for example if it is to be reused to irrigate golf courses. An alternative term used in the sanitation sector for disinfection of waste streams, sewage sludge or fecal sludge is sanitisation or sanitization.
Disinfectant was a popular antivirus software program for the classic Macintosh operating system. It was originally released as freeware by John Norstad in the spring of 1989. Disinfectant featured a system extension that would detect virus infections and an application with which users could scan for and remove viruses. New versions of Disinfectant would be subsequently released to detect additional viruses. Bob LeVitus praised and recommended Disinfectant in 1992. In May 1998, Norstad retired Disinfectant, citing the new danger posed by macro viruses, which Disinfectant did not detect, and the inability of a single individual to maintain a program that caught all of them.
Usage examples of "disinfectant".
I used disinfectant soap with cold water to wash it out, then slathered it in an antibacterial gel before laying several plastic bandages over the injury, to hold it closed.
Dyeing -- Manufacture of Pigments -- Writing Inks -- Purification of Lighting Gas -- Agriculture -- Cotton Dyeing -- Disinfectant -- Purifying Waste Liquors -- Manufacture of Nordhausen Sulphuric Acid -- Fertilising.
Nastasya Filippovna, by two containers of something called Zhdanov fluid, used in Russia as a disinfectant and deodorant.
While Cat cleaned the wound with disinfectant the best she knew how and folded a torn section of a freshly laundered bedsheet, Culley answered her questions between grunts of pain.
He had one small bag of disinfectants and Syrettes and was determined to use them efficiently.
The smell of beeswax furniture polish, and of wilted chrysanthemums, and the lingering aroma of bedpan and disinfectant.
I looked into it briefly and decided it was a job for a shovel, a hose, a broom and some strong disinfectant, and while I was collecting those things Bananas and Cassie walked anxiously along from the pub.
The gunslinger went to the tiny, leaning church by the graveyard while Allie washed tables with strong disinfectant and rinsed kerosene lamp chimnies in soapy water.
The air was redolent of disinfectants and medicinal odors, indicating that Joanna might have been imprisoned twelve years ago in one of these second-floor rooms.
He told Maria to fill two quart bottles with kerosene, added a package of synthetic honey and a whole assortment of disinfectants, and listened, nodding absently, as my grandmother listed all the many things that had burned down in Bissau and Bissau Quarry during the fighting.
In the first place, there were practically no medicines and no disinfectants in the shack.
Overlapping the smell of disinfectants came the sour, musty odors of mold and rat droppings.
The space stank of disinfectants and the ersatz-garden effect of air purifier perfumes.
The space stank of disinfectants and the ersatz-garden effect of air purifier perfumes.
There were at hand plenty of those strong, specially prepared soaps and other disinfectants constantly used by the women of their kind who still cling to cleanliness and health.