: 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 WebTerry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2024
Prosecutors said Herrera-Mondello ran into a home and hid inside, firing gunshots at police throughout the standoff until officers used tear gas to force him out and take him into custody about 8:30 p.m. that night.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 21 May 2024
Police ordered the protesters to leave, saying they could be arrested and that force would be used, including potentially pepper spray and tear gas.
—Nollyanne Delacruz, The Mercury News, 17 May 2024
Masked security eventually showed up to disperse the crowds in the early morning hours, using water cannon trucks, tear gas and rubber bullets to remove people.
—Rebecca Rosman, NPR, 13 May 2024
Minutes later, the police used water cannons and tear gas to push back and disperse the tens of thousands of protesters, causing scenes of violent chaos.
—Astrig Agopian, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 May 2024
The law enforcement response at USF included the use of tear gas.
—Divya Kumar, Miami Herald, 8 May 2024
Some of these young people rediscovered the physical world during the protests that ran throughout the summer of 2020, and many of them witnessed police brutality, tear gas, and other forms of coercion.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 3 May 2024
The jury also convicted one of the defendants, 27-year-old Brian Cortez Lightfoot, of five additional counts of use of tear gas not in self-defense, but ended up hung on nine counts of assault.
—Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 May 2024
Mark Sappenfield, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 May 2024
Hundreds of student and faculty arrests, with nonviolent dissenters thrown to the ground, tear-gassed and tased.
—Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, The Conversation, 26 Apr. 2024
Officers batter protesters with plastic shields, and noxious plumes rise from the street where tear-gas canisters have been deployed.
—David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
Jean Marc Jean, 37, a freelance journalist, was covering antigovernment protests last month when a police tear-gas canister hit his left eye.
—Frances Robles, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2024
One of his earliest memories was of being rushed away by his dad from a tear-gas canister that landed near him.
—Rozina Ali, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2024
The authorities have blocked the social media accounts of some protest leaders and even used drones that were once billed as an agricultural innovation to drop tear-gas grenades on the demonstrators.
—Suhasini Raj, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024
Outside Julia’s apartment, the detritus of protests littered the street—tipped-over trash cans, twisted metal barricades, expended tear-gas canisters.
—Elliot Ackerman, WIRED, 8 Feb. 2024
Matter protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and provided them with tips on dealing with tear-gas inhalation.
—Emma Green, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2023
Noun
Advertisement The video shows officers throwing canisters of tear gas and a flash-bang grenade into the cell as Zumwalt screams.
—Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2024
Prosecutors said Herrera-Mondello ran into a home and hid inside, firing gunshots at police throughout the standoff until officers used tear gas to force him out and take him into custody about 8:30 p.m. that night.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 21 May 2024
Police ordered the protesters to leave, saying they could be arrested and that force would be used, including potentially pepper spray and tear gas.
—Nollyanne Delacruz, The Mercury News, 17 May 2024
Masked security eventually showed up to disperse the crowds in the early morning hours, using water cannon trucks, tear gas and rubber bullets to remove people.
—Rebecca Rosman, NPR, 13 May 2024
Minutes later, the police used water cannons and tear gas to push back and disperse the tens of thousands of protesters, causing scenes of violent chaos.
—Astrig Agopian, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 May 2024
The law enforcement response at USF included the use of tear gas.
—Divya Kumar, Miami Herald, 8 May 2024
Some of these young people rediscovered the physical world during the protests that ran throughout the summer of 2020, and many of them witnessed police brutality, tear gas, and other forms of coercion.
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 3 May 2024
The jury also convicted one of the defendants, 27-year-old Brian Cortez Lightfoot, of five additional counts of use of tear gas not in self-defense, but ended up hung on nine counts of assault.
—Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 May 2024
Verb
The crowd was tear-gassed during another of his trips.
—Mark Sappenfield, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 May 2024
Hundreds of student and faculty arrests, with nonviolent dissenters thrown to the ground, tear-gassed and tased.
—Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, The Conversation, 26 Apr. 2024
Officers batter protesters with plastic shields, and noxious plumes rise from the street where tear-gas canisters have been deployed.
—David Peisner, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
Jean Marc Jean, 37, a freelance journalist, was covering antigovernment protests last month when a police tear-gas canister hit his left eye.
—Frances Robles, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2024
One of his earliest memories was of being rushed away by his dad from a tear-gas canister that landed near him.
—Rozina Ali, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2024
The authorities have blocked the social media accounts of some protest leaders and even used drones that were once billed as an agricultural innovation to drop tear-gas grenades on the demonstrators.
—Suhasini Raj, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024
Outside Julia’s apartment, the detritus of protests littered the street—tipped-over trash cans, twisted metal barricades, expended tear-gas canisters.
—Elliot Ackerman, WIRED, 8 Feb. 2024
Matter protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and provided them with tips on dealing with tear-gas inhalation.
—Emma Green, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2023
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 28 May. 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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