Definition of "trichloroethylene" [trichloroethylene]

• A heavy, colorless, toxic liquid, C2HCl3, used to degrease metals, as an extraction solvent for oils and waxes, as a refrigerant, in dry cleaning, and as a fumigant. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "•By far, the most common contaminant is a chlorinated solvent called trichloroethylene, or "trike," and its breakdown products -- substances known to cause birth defects and cancer and reaching concentrations thousands of times higher than federal drinking water standards allow."
• "Department of Education officials closed Bronx New School on Jerome Ave. late last month after finding high levels of a cancer-causing poison called trichloroethylene, or TCE, there."
• "The lawsuits _ a class-action case involving about 200 people and another case filed by the would-be developers of a condominium project _ seek unspecified financial compensation for property that owners say is worthless because of the contamination from a degreaser called trichloroethylene, also known as TCE."