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a colorless gas, c 2 h 2 , having an etherlike odor, produced usually by the action of water on calcium carbide or by pyrolysis of natural gas: used especially in metal cutting and welding, as an illuminant, and in organic synthesis.
historical examples

they had put a table at the back of this cave, and an acetylene light illuminated it.
csar or nothing po baroja baroja

only two of them, methane and acetylene, will be discussed here.
an elementary study of chemistry william mcpherson

by adjustment of the amount of air that enters the burner, acetylene may be burnt in a gas stove.
mechanical devices in the home edith louise allen

finer grades are cut into slate pencils and acetylene burners.
the economic aspect of geology c. k. leith

the preparation and properties of methane and acetylene have been discussed in a previous chapter.
an elementary study of chemistry william mcpherson

david saw the flash of the acetylene lamps on his bedroom blind.
the following of the star florence l. barclay

the same difficulties arise with acetylene and electric light.
practical cinematography and its applications frederick arthur ambrose talbot

acetylene, a compound of carbon and hydrogen, is used in this way.
foods and household management helen kinne

acetone dissolves twenty-four times its own bulk of acetylene at ordinary atmospheric pressure.
oxy-acetylene welding and cutting harold p. manly

acetylene has a low flashing point, and there is question as to36 its safety.
foods and household management helen kinne

noun
a colourless flammable gas used in the manufacture of organic chemicals and in cutting and welding metals. formula: c2h2 systematic name ethyne

another name for alkyne
(as modifier): acetylene series

n.

gaseous hydrocarbon, 1864, from french acétylène, coined by french chemist marcelin-pierre-eugène berthelot (1823-1907) from chemical ending -ene + acetyl, which was coined from acetic in 1839 by german chemist justus von liebig; see acetic. liebig’s coinage was in reference to a different radical; acetyl was transferred to its current sense in 1850s, but berthelot’s coinage was based on the original use of acetyl.

the name acetylene is an unfortunate one as the hydrocarbon is not directly related to the modern acetyl radical and the molecule … contains a triple bond, not a double bond which the suffix -ene (q.v.) implies. [flood, “origins of chemical names,” 1963]

acetylene a·cet·y·lene (ə-sět’l-ēn’, -ən)
n.
a colorless, highly flammable, and explosive gas used for metal welding and cutting and as an illuminant.
acetylene
(ə-sět’l-ēn’, -ən)
a colorless, highly flammable or explosive gas with a characteristic sweet odor. it is used in welding torches and in the manufacture of organic chemicals such as vinyl chloride. acetylene is the simplest alkyne, consisting of two carbon atoms joined by a triple bond and each attached to a single hydrogen atom. also called ethyne. chemical formula: c2h2.