Phrase guide

tear gas

noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɪə ɡæs/
  • British, Southern, Standard: /ˈtɪː ɡæs/
  • US: /ˈtɪɹ ɡæs/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any lachrymatory, non-lethal chemical compound that causes the eyes to sting and water and/or irritates the respiratory system, mostly used for controlling crowds during riots or as self-defense.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To use tear gas.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The riot squad tear gassed the mob.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a gas that makes the eyes fill with tears but does not damage them; used in dispersing crowds

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: teargas, lacrimator, lachrymator

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: chemical weapon, gas

Narrower terms: chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile, CS gas, chloroacetophenone, CN gas, nitrochloromethane

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

66 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: gaz lotsjellës — chemical compound
  • Arabic: الْغَاز الْمَسِيل لِلْدَمُوع (al-ḡāz al-masīl li-l-damūʕ) — chemical compound
  • Armenian: արցունքաբեր գազ (arcʻunkʻaber gaz) — chemical compound
  • Azerbaijani: bibər qazı — chemical compound
  • Azerbaijani: gözyaşardıcı qaz — chemical compound
  • Basque: gas negar eragile — chemical compound
  • Belarusian: слёзатачы́вы газ (sljozatačývy haz) — chemical compound
  • Bengali: কাঁদানে গ্যাস (kãdane gês) — chemical compound
  • Bulgarian: сълзотво́рен газ (sǎlzotvóren gaz) — chemical compound
  • Catalan: gas lacrimogen — chemical compound
  • Chinese Mandarin: 催淚瓦斯 /催泪瓦斯 (cuīlèi wǎsī) — chemical compound
  • Chinese Mandarin: 催淚氣體 /催泪气体 (cuīlèi qìtǐ) — chemical compound
  • Chinese Mandarin: 催淚彈 /催泪弹 (cuīlèidàn) — chemical compound
  • Chinese Mandarin: 催淚煙 /催泪烟 (cuīlèiyān) — chemical compound
  • Czech: slzný plyn — chemical compound
  • Danish: tåregas — chemical compound
  • Dutch: traangas — chemical compound
  • Esperanto: larmiga gaso — chemical compound
  • Estonian: pisargaas — chemical compound
  • Finnish: kyynelkaasu — chemical compound
  • French: gaz lacrymogène — chemical compound
  • French: lacrymo — chemical compound
  • Georgian: ცრემლსადენი გაზი (cremlsadeni gazi) — chemical compound
  • German: Tränengas — chemical compound
  • Greek: δακρυγόνο (dakrygóno) — chemical compound
  • Gujarati: અશ્રુવાયુ (aśruvāyu) — chemical compound
  • Hindi: अश्रु गैस (aśru gais) — chemical compound
  • Hindi: आँसू गैस (ā̃sū gais) — chemical compound
  • Hungarian: könnygáz — chemical compound
  • Icelandic: táragas — chemical compound
  • Italian: gas lacrimogeno — chemical compound
  • Japanese: 催涙ガス (sairui gasu) — chemical compound
  • Japanese: 催涙剤 (sairuizai) — chemical compound
  • Kazakh: жасауратқыш газ (jasauratqyş gaz) — chemical compound
  • Khmer: ឧស្ម័នបង្ហូរទឹកភ្នែក (ʼusman bɑɑnghou tɨk phnɛɛk) — chemical compound
  • Korean: 최루 가스 (choeru gaseu) — chemical compound
  • Korean: 최루제 (choeruje) — chemical compound
  • Northern Kurdish: rondikrêj — chemical compound
  • Kyrgyz: жаш агызуучу газ (jaş agızuucu gaz) — chemical compound
  • Latvian: asaru gāze — chemical compound
  • Lithuanian: ašarinės dujos — chemical compound
  • Macedonian: солзавец (solzavec) — chemical compound
  • Malayalam: കണ്ണീർ വാതകം (kaṇṇīṟ vātakaṁ) — chemical compound
  • Norwegian Bokmål: tåregass — chemical compound
  • Nupe: nawú yakági — chemical compound
  • Occitan: gas lacrimogèn — chemical compound
  • Persian: گاز اشکآور (gâz-e ašk-âvar) — chemical compound
  • Polish: gaz łzawiący — chemical compound
  • Portuguese: gás lacrimogéneo — chemical compound
  • Portuguese: gás lacrimogêneo — chemical compound
  • Romanian: gaz lacrimogen — chemical compound
  • Russian: слезоточи́вый газ (slezotočívyj gaz) — chemical compound
  • Serbo-Croatian: су̏завац — chemical compound
  • Serbo-Croatian: sȕzavac — chemical compound
  • Slovak: slzný plyn — chemical compound
  • Slovene: solzivec — chemical compound
  • Spanish: gas lacrimógeno — chemical compound
  • Swedish: tårgas — chemical compound
  • Tajik: гази ашковар (gaz-i aškovar) — chemical compound
  • Thai: แก๊สน้ําตา (gɛ́ɛt-nám-dtaa) — chemical compound
  • Turkish: gözyaşartıcı gaz — chemical compound
  • Ukrainian: сльозогі́нний газ (slʹozohínnyj haz) — chemical compound
  • Urdu: آنْسُو گیس (ānsū ges) — chemical compound
  • Vietnamese: hơi cay — chemical compound
  • Yoruba: atajú — chemical compound
  • Yoruba: tajútajú — chemical compound