gas

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Dutch gas, coined by chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont in Ortus Medicinae. Derived from Ancient Greek χάος (kháos, “chasm, void, empty space”); perhaps also inspired by geest (“breath, vapour, spirit”). Doublet of chaos. First attested in 1648.

noun

1. (uncountable, chemistry) Matter in an intermediate state between liquid and plasma that can be contained only if it is fully surrounded by a solid (or in a bubble of liquid, or held together by gravitational pull); it can condense into a liquid, or can (rarely) become a solid directly by deposition.
   1. (uncountable) A flammable gaseous hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixture used as a fuel, e.g. for cooking, heating, electricity generation or as a fuel in internal combustion engines in vehicles, especially natural gas.
      Gas-fired power stations have largely replaced coal-burning ones.
   2. (uncountable, military) Poison gas.
      The artillery fired gas shells into the enemy trenches.
2. (countable, chemistry) A chemical element or compound in such a state.
   The atmosphere is made up of a number of different gases.
3. (countable) A hob on a gas cooker.
   She turned the gas on, put the potatoes on, then lit the oven.
4. (uncountable) Methane or other waste gases trapped in one's belly as a result of the digestive process; flatus.
   My tummy hurts so bad – I have gas.
   But anyone with that many large brown birds aroost in his cranium and that much gas in his bottom was clearly not a well person. 2008, Nicholas Drayson, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa, page 72
5. (slang, dated) A humorous or entertaining event, person or thing.
   Two more girls came in, one in bright pink stretch pants and the other in purple. “Man this place is a gas,” said pink. 1963 May, Gloria Steinem, “A Bunny's Tale”, in Show Magazine, archived from the original on 2017-10-04
   No it really doesn't matter at all / Life's a gas / I hope it's going to last 1971, Marc Bolan (lyrics and music), “Life's a Gas”, in Electric Warrior, performed by T. Rex
   Money, it's a gas. Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash. 1973-03-01, “Money” (track 6), in The Dark Side of the Moon, performed by Pink Floyd
   Once I had a love and it was a gas / Soon turned out had a heart of glass 1978, “Heart of Glass”, in Parallel Lines, performed by Blondie
   Be a man, Be a man / Belsen was a gas / Be a man, kill someone 1979, “Belsen Was a Gas”, in The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, performed by Sex Pistols
   One two! I was born in a cross-fire hurricane. And I howled at the maw in the drivin' rain. But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas. But it's all right. I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash. It's a gas, gas, gas. 2011-10-11, “Jumping Jack Flash (Live 1973)” (track 14), in Brussels Affair (Live 1973), performed by The Rolling Stones
6. (slang) Frothy or boastful talk; chatter.
7. (baseball) A fastball.
   The closer threw him nothing but gas.
8. (medicine, colloquial) Arterial or venous blood gas.

verb

1. (transitive) To attack or kill with poison gas.
   The Nazis gassed millions of Jews during the Holocaust.
   He never fully recovered after he was gassed on the Western Front.
2. (intransitive, slang) To talk in a boastful or vapid way; chatter.
   […] (it was the town's humour to be always gassing of phantom investors who were likely to come any moment and pay a thousand prices for everything) — “[…] Them rich fellers, they don't make no bad breaks with their money. […]” 1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock
   "Well don't keep on gassing about it," said Digory. 1955, C. S. Lewis, chapter 3, in The Magician's Nephew, Collins, published 1998
3. (transitive, slang) To impose upon by talking boastfully.
   I went shop and the boss man said "Don't pay me it's fine" and I said ...(whaaat): "You ain't gotta gas, I'm gas fam" ( don't gas me), "You ain't gotta gas, I'm gas fam". 2018-09-14, “Don't Gas Me” (track 1), in Don't Gas Me, performed by Dizzy Rascal
4. (intransitive) To emit gas.
   The battery cell was gassing.
5. (transitive) To impregnate with gas.
   to gas lime with chlorine in the manufacture of bleaching powder
6. (transitive) To singe, as in a gas flame, so as to remove loose fibers.
   to gas thread

Etymology 2

Clipping of gasoline.

noun

1. (uncountable, Canada, US, New Zealand) Gasoline, a light derivative of petroleum used as fuel.
2. (uncountable, Canada, US, by extension) Ellipsis of gas pedal.
3. (uncountable, cryptocurrencies) An internal virtual currency used in Ethereum to pay for certain operations, such as blockchain transactions.
   Coordinate term: Ether
   gas fee
   Gas is the fuel of Ethereum. Gas is not ether–it's a separate virtual currency with its own exchange rate against ether. Ethereum uses gas to control the amount of resources that transactions can use[…] 2018, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gavin Wood, Mastering Ethereum: Building Smart Contracts and DApps, O'Reilly Media
   The average “gas fee” – transaction cost – of an Ethereum transaction is between US$85 and US $156, according to crypto.com data. 2021-11-06, Ben Butler, “Australian banks are opening up to cryptocurrency: what does it mean for you?”, in The Guardian
4. (slang, uncountable) Marijuana, typically of high quality.

verb

1. (US) To give a vehicle more fuel in order to accelerate it.
   The cops are coming. Gas it!
2. (US) To fill (a vehicle's fuel tank) with fuel.

Etymology 3

Compare the slang usage of "a gas", above.

adj

1. (slang) Comical, zany; fun, amusing.
   Mary's new boyfriend is a gas man.
   It was gas when the bird flew into the classroom.
   The other models were gas fun, though they were all a bit hoity-toity. 2016, Liz Nugent, Lying In Wait, page 113
   I went shop and the boss man said "Don't pay me it's fine" and I said ...(whaaat): "You ain't gotta gas, I'm gas fam" ( don't gas me), "You ain't gotta gas, I'm gas fam". 2018-09-14, “Don't Gas Me” (track 1), in Don't Gas Me, performed by Dizzy Rascal