Meaning & use
gas-masked
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparable
Wearing a gas mask, especially for protection against poisonous gas or smoke.
Grammar: Used before a noun (a gas-masked firefighter) or after a linking verb (the crowd was gas-masked).
Patterns
- gas-masked + noun
- be gas-masked
The gas-masked rescue team entered the burning building to search for survivors.
In the old newsreel, gas-masked soldiers stood guard at the entrance to the bunker.
Protesters, some gas-masked, gathered outside the government building as smoke drifted across the square.
Common combinations
- gas-masked soldiers
- Gas-masked soldiers patrolled the streets after the chemical leak.
- gas-masked firefighters
- The gas-masked firefighters worked for hours in the smoke-filled tunnel.
- gas-masked protesters
- Gas-masked protesters marched through the city center.
- gas-masked figure
- A gas-masked figure appeared at the window and signaled for us to stay inside.
- gas-masked rescue workers
- Gas-masked rescue workers carried people out of the contaminated zone.
Synonyms and how they differ
- masked
- More general; it can mean wearing any kind of mask for disguise or protection, not specifically a gas mask.
- protected
- Focuses on being kept safe rather than on wearing a mask, so it does not describe appearance.
Opposites
Word family
- gas mask noun
- The mask itself, worn over the face to filter out harmful gases.
- gas-mask adjective
- A less common variant spelling of the same compound adjective.
Commonly confused: gas-masked or gassed?
gas-masked vs gassed
Means affected by gas or killed by gas, not wearing a mask. A gas-masked soldier is protected; a gassed soldier has been harmed.
Practice
Choose the best sentence.
Choose one answer.
When a compound adjective comes before a noun, it needs a hyphen: 'gas-masked soldier'. Option A misses the hyphen, option C puts the adjective in the wrong place, and option D is awkward because the description comes too late.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gas-masked”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.