silver nitrate

American  

noun

Chemistry, Pharmacology.

1. a white, crystalline, water-soluble, bitter, corrosive, poisonous powder, AgNO 3 , produced by the reaction of silver and dilute nitric acid: used chiefly in the manufacture of photographic emulsions and mirrors, as a laboratory reagent, and in medicine as an antiseptic, astringent, and in the routine prophylaxis of ophthalmia neonatorum.

---

silver nitrate British  

noun

1. a white crystalline soluble poisonous substance used in making photographic emulsions, other silver salts, and as a medical antiseptic and astringent. Formula: AgNO 3 See also lunar caustic

---

silver nitrate Scientific  

1. A poisonous, clear, crystalline compound that darkens when exposed to light. It is used in photography and silver plating, and as an external antiseptic. Chemical formula: AgNO ₃ .

---

Etymology

Origin of silver nitrate

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

silver nitrate

The researchers began by mixing two polymers with potassium bicarbonate, an acid-neutralizing compound, and silver nitrate, which forms antimicrobial nanoparticles that link the polymers together to form a gel.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 3, 2024

But the director kept a copy, shot on highly unstable silver nitrate film, in his freezer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2023

A sample of gallium bromide, GaBr3, weighing 0.165 g was dissolved in water and treated with silver nitrate, AgNO3, resulting in the precipitation of 0.299 g AgBr.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

The treatment at the time — silver nitrate, opium and tannic acid enemas — destroyed his intestines.

From New York Times ● Nov. 1, 2018

We were sitting in chemistry lab, waiting to see what happened when we mixed silver nitrate and salt.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez