CHLOROFORM

I. noun Etymology: French ~e, from chlor- + formyle formyl; from its having been regarded as a trichloride of this group Date: 1838 a colorless volatile heavy toxic liquid CHCl 3 with an ether odor used especially as a solvent, II. transitive verb Date: 1848 to treat with or as if with ~ especially so as to produce anesthesia, insensibility, or death