noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any compound containing the -C≡N group or the CN⁻ anion. countable
2. 2
   an extremely poisonous salt of hydrocyanic acid wordnet
3. 3
   Sodium or potassium cyanide, used in the extraction of gold and silver or as a poison. countable, uncountable

   "The birdies all try an' hide / But they still go for peanuts / When coated with cyanide"

4. 4
   any of a class of organic compounds containing the cyano radical -CN wordnet
5. 5
   Hydrogen cyanide, or cyanide gas, a poisonous gas. uncountable

Verb

1. 1
   To treat or poison with cyanide. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms

alcoholarsenicchemicalddtnitrilenitrile

Example

More examples

"All the fish in this lake died from cyanide poisoning."

Etymology

From cyan- + -ide.

Related phrases

benzyl cyanidebromobenzyl cyanidecarbonyl cyanidecyanide fishingcyanide processmethyl cyanidepotassium silver cyanidesilver cyanidevinyl cyanidehydrocyanic acidhydrogen cyanidenevada gas

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.