off-gassing
n.— «Off-gassing—Also known as outgassing, this is the emission of chemicals from building materials, furniture, textiles and bedding. Many of those “new house” smells that we enjoy accumulate in the bloodstream and have been linked to increasing rates of asthma and some cancers, particularly in children.» —“Are you a little green on the ecological lingo? Here’s a primer” by Steven Barrie-Anthony Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) May 27, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
Chad in Hilliard, Florida, wonders about the expression old as Methuselah, meaning “extremely advanced in years.” The phrase references Methuselah, a figure in Jewish, Islamic, and Christian tradition said to be 969 years old when he...