: a solid, liquid, or gaseous substance that on dispersion in the atmosphere irritates mucous membranes resulting especially in blinding of the eyes with tears and that is used chiefly (as by the police and the military) to disperse large crowds of people
variants
or tear gas
or less commonly teargas
tear-gassed or tear gassed also teargassed; tear-gassing or tear gassing also teargassing; tear-gases or tear gasses also teargasses
: to use tear gas on
The troops then tear-gassed the crowd of several hundred, mostly teenagers and young men, which scattered in great confusion, but re-formed later.—
Roger Daniels
Roger DanielsExamples of tear gas in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebFox News, 25 June 2024
Police are breaking up peaceful protesters with tear gas and water cannons around the city center in Nairobi.
—Larry Madowo, CNN, 20 June 2024
Char Adams, NBC News, 25 June 2024
On Thursday, a CNN team witnessed protesters being tear-gassed by police, resulting in a journalist being injured by a canister.
—Duarte Mendonca, CNN, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for tear gas 
Noun
Police opened fire after tear gas and water cannon failed to disperse the crowds.
—Fox News, 25 June 2024
Police are breaking up peaceful protesters with tear gas and water cannons around the city center in Nairobi.
—Larry Madowo, CNN, 20 June 2024
Verb
The Kenya Human Rights Commission on Tuesday shared videos of police firing at protesters and deploying tear-gas amid the chaos.
—Char Adams, NBC News, 25 June 2024
On Thursday, a CNN team witnessed protesters being tear-gassed by police, resulting in a journalist being injured by a canister.
—Duarte Mendonca, CNN, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for tear gas
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tear gas.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Tear gas.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tear%20gas. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
teargas
1 of 2 verb
tear·gas
ˈti(ə)r-ˌgas 
: to use tear gas on
tear gas
2 of 2 noun
: any of various substances that cause eye irritation and blind the eyes with tears when released into the air and that are used mostly to scatter mobs
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