Definition of "hydrogen" []

• A colorless, highly flammable gaseous element, the lightest of all gases and the most abundant element in the universe, used in the production of synthetic ammonia and methanol, in petroleum refining, in the hydrogenation of organic materials, as a reducing atmosphere, in oxyhydrogen torches, and in rocket fuels. Atomic number 1; atomic weight 1.00794; melting point -259.14°C; boiling point -252.8°C; density at 0°C 0.08987 gram per liter; valence 1. See Table at element. (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.

• "~ New 'biofuel cell' produces electricity from hydrogen in plain air -- "A pioneering “biofuel cell” that produces electricity from ordinary air spiked with small amounts of hydrogen offers significant potential as an inexpensive and renewable alternative to the costly platinum-based fuel cells that have dominated discussion about the “hydrogen economy” of the future, British scientists reported here today.""
• "But if we consider hydrogen as a gasiform metal, we naturally arrive at the conclusion that _water is the hydroxide of this gasiform metal_, that is _hydrogen hydroxide_, while gaseous hydrochloric and hydrosulphuric acids would be looked upon as respectively the chloride and the sulphide of the metal hydrogen."
• "Carbon also escapes into the air, combined with hydrogen, in the form of _carburetted hydrogen_ or _marsh-gas_ (CH_4), a product of the decomposition of organic matter in the presence of a large quantity of water."