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The origin of "hazmat" is clear enough - it was formed by combining the first three letters of each of two words: "hazardous" and "material." The word hazmat is fairly young, first appearing in print in 1980. Although it is a noun, "hazmat" tends to be used attributively, meaning that it often appears in sentences before another noun as if it were performing the duties of an adjective (as in "hazmat team" and "hazmat worker").
Examples of hazmat in a Sentence
Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 25 June 2024
Among the emergencies that unfold every day across the city’s 502 square miles, this one was relatively small potatoes: a suspicious package, a hazmat team and an all-clear likely to be declared any minute.
—Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2024
Beshear said the Energy and Environment Cabinet had deployed a hazmat team to assess the situation.
—Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, 27 May 2024
Arkansas 367 from McRae to the Bowman Road intersection in White County has reopened following a hazmat incident involving the Union Pacific Railroad and a train car hauling nitric acid that caught fire.
—Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, arkansasonline.com, 17 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for hazmat 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hazmat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hazmat
Cite this Entry
“Hazmat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hazmat. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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hazmat
nounTom Spousta
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