gases

1. a substance or matter in a state in which it will expand freely to fill the whole of a container, having no fixed shape (unlike a solid) and no fixed volume (unlike a liquid).

   hot balls of gas that become stars

   poisonous gases

2. short for gasoline.

   we stopped for gas

3. an entertaining or amusing person or situation.

   the party would be a gas

1. kill or harm by exposure to gas.

   my son was gassed at Verdun

2. talk excessively about trivial matters.

   I thought you'd never stop gassing

3. fill the tank of (a motor vehicle) with petrol.

   after gassing up the car, he went into the restaurant

mid 17th century: invented by J. B. van Helmont (1577–1644), Belgian chemist, to denote an occult principle which he believed to exist in all matter; suggested by Greek khaos ‘chaos’, with Dutch g representing Greek kh .