(mal.OH.dur.unt)
n.
A foul smell; a weapon that uses a foul smell to disorient an attacker. —adj.
Example Citation:
The National Research Council panel wrote that it doesn't consider malodorants to be "chemical weapons," which are outlawed by international treaty.
But others disagree. "A malodorant is a chemical compound which exerts a temporary incapacitating effect on people, and in my view it's a toxic chemical under the Chemical Weapons Convention," said Mark Wheelis, a microbiologist at UC Davis who has written widely on chemical weaponry.
—Aaron Zitner, "Best Defense May Be a Good, Offensive Stench," Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2002
Earliest Citation:
Nippon Shokubai Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. <4114> has developed and commenced sample shipping three new types of catalyst for use in treating waste gases, malodorants, and organic solvents.
—"Nippon Shokubai develops three new catalysts," Comline: Chemical Industry of Japan, July 4, 1991
—"Nippon Shokubai develops three new catalysts," Comline: Chemical Industry of Japan, July 4, 1991
Earliest Citation (weapon):
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Notes:
A malodorant is an example of a non-lethal weapon, or a weapon designed to subdue, disorient, or knock out an opponent, but not to kill that opponent. A malodorant is also called an odor weapon, a stink weapon, or (of course) a stink bomb. Whatever the name, it gives new meaning to the military abbreviation AOS — all options stink.
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