Acetone
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A colourless, volatile, flammable liquid ketone, (CH₃)₂CO, used as a solvent. countable, uncountable
"You open the salon door and the acetone from yesterday’s manicures immediately stings my nostrils."
- 2 the simplest ketone; a highly flammable liquid widely used as an organic solvent and as material for making plastics wordnet
Example
More examples"I think I forgot to rinse the condenser with acetone."
Etymology
From acet- from acētum (“vinegar”). The -one was taken from margarone but further etymology is unclear. Doublet of ketone.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.