Word of the Day: Gas
Gas is a substance that can come in the form of a liquid (gasoline) or as something lighter than liquid, such as air.
In these sentences, gas is a liquid. We often use the word “gas” as a substitute for “gasoline.”
- My car ran out of gas.
- Gas prices are climbing.
- Give it some gas. (Push the car’s accelerator down with your foot.)
- I gotta get some gas. (gotta = have got to)
- This car is easy on gas. It gets good gas mileage.
In these sentences and questions, the word “gas” does not refer to a liquid. It’s much lighter than liquid. A gas might be colorless or odorless, depending on what kind of a gas it is.
- Do you smell gas?
- On our planet, methane is a type of gas, but on Titan, a moon of Saturn, methane is liquid.
- Jupiter is a planet that is made up entirely of gas.
- It’s a gaseous planet. (“Gaseous” is an adjective)
- A gas leak forced the community to evacuate.
- The Syrian government has been accused of using gas against its own people.
- A gas attack killed and injured thousands of people in Iraq in the 1990s.
- The dentist gave me some gas before going to work on a cavity. (gas = laughing gas or nitrous oxide)
Human beings are also capable of producing gas:
- That burrito gave me gas.
- No one knew it was David who was passing gas.
- Someone’s got some really bad gas.
- Broccoli leaves me feeling a little gassy. (The word “gassy” is an adjective.)
Sometimes the word “gas” is used in American slang to mean that an activity was a lot of fun.
- The concert was a gas.
- We had a gas at the party.
- What a gas!
Essential English Dictionary
Visit the Popular English Words Beginning with G page to see the list of all words starting with letter G. For seeing the HiCafe dictionary, visit the Popular English Words with Meaning page.
