nitrogen
a colorless, odorless, gaseous element that constitutes about four-fifths of the volume of the atmosphere and is present in combined form in animal and vegetable tissues, especially in proteins: used chiefly in the manufacture of ammonia, nitric acid, cyanide, explosives, fertilizer, dyes, as a cooling agent, etc. Symbol: N; atomic weight: 14.0067; atomic number: 7; density: 1.2506 grams/liter at 0°C and 760 millimeters pressure.
Origin of nitrogen
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use nitrogen in a sentence
In the stratosphere, this electricity excites mostly nitrogen gas.
Space station sensors saw how weird ‘blue jet’ lightning forms | Maria Temming | February 2, 2021 | Science News For StudentsIn fast-growing appendages that help them move, the sea stars that perished had high amounts of a form of nitrogen found in low oxygen conditions — a sign that those animals may have died from a lack of oxygen.
Some bacteria are suffocating sea stars, turning the animals to goo | Erin Garcia de Jesus | January 20, 2021 | Science NewsThat’s because in the summer months, heat and sunlight react with the precursor gases in the atmosphere, like nitrogen dioxide, creating a toxic cocktail.
What the pandemic can teach us about ways to reduce air pollution | Carolyn Gramling | January 4, 2021 | Science NewsAs Cahn explained, “You can’t control nitrogen without controlling your irrigation water.”
How technology might finally start telling farmers things they didn’t already know | Katie McLean | December 18, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewCarbon and nitrogen accumulate in tusks over an elephant’s lifetime through the food the animal eats and the water it drinks.
Ivory from a 16th century shipwreck reveals new details about African elephants | Maria Temming | December 17, 2020 | Science News
There is also more nitrogen in his varieties, and this contributes to a quick restart of fermentation after each filtration.
Grosvenor Place, which runs alongside the palace, has almost four times the maximum permissible amount of nitrogen dioxide.
Fresh out of jail, Dr. Krim receives an anonymous email to check the liquid nitrogen tanks back at her lab.
Achatz revamped his restaurant Alinea with a far-out, multi-course menu and futuristic liquid-nitrogen dishes.
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, but it cannot be formed by the direct union of these gases.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry | Thomas AndersonThe form in which nitrogen may be absorbed has given rise to much difference of opinion.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry | Thomas AndersonPigeons' dung, according to Boussingault, contains 8·3 per cent of nitrogen, equivalent to 10·0 of ammonia.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry | Thomas AndersonRefuse horse hair generally contains 11 or 12 per cent of nitrogen.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry | Thomas AndersonDry peat of good quality contains about one per cent of nitrogen, and a quantity of ash varying from five to twenty per cent.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry | Thomas Anderson
British Dictionary definitions for nitrogen
/ (ˈnaɪtrədʒən) /
a colourless odourless relatively unreactive gaseous element that forms 78 per cent (by volume) of the air, occurs in many compounds, and is an essential constituent of proteins and nucleic acids: used in the manufacture of ammonia and other chemicals and as a refrigerant. Symbol: N; atomic no: 7; atomic wt: 14.00674; valency: 3 or 5; density: 1/2506 kg/m³; melting pt: –210.00°C; boiling pt: –195.8°C
(as modifier): nitrogen cycle
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for nitrogen
[ nī′trə-jən ]
A nonmetallic element that makes up about 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume, occurring as a colorless, odorless gas. It is a component of all proteins, making it essential for life, and it is also found in various minerals. Nitrogen is used to make ammonia, nitric acid, TNT, and fertilizers. Atomic number 7; atomic weight 14.0067; melting point -209.86°C; boiling point -195.8°C; valence 3, 5. See Periodic Table. See Note at oxygen.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for nitrogen
A chemical element that makes up about four-fifths of the atmosphere of the Earth. Its symbol is N.
Notes for nitrogen
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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