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nitroglycerin

American  
[nahy-truh-glis-er-in] / ˌnaɪ trəˈglɪs ər ɪn /
Also nitroglycerine

noun

Chemistry, Pharmacology.
  1. a colorless, thick, oily, flammable, highly explosive, slightly water-soluble liquid, C 3 H 5 N 3 O 9 , prepared from glycerol with nitric and sulfuric acids: used chiefly as a constituent of dynamite and other explosives, in rocket propellants, and in medicine as a vasodilator in the treatment of angina pectoris.


nitroglycerin Scientific  
/ nī′trō-glĭs′ər-ĭn /
  1. A thick, pale-yellow, explosive liquid formed by treating glycerin with nitric and sulfuric acids. It is used to make dynamite and in medicine to dilate blood vessels. Chemical formula: C 3 H 5 N 3 O 9 .


Etymology

Origin of nitroglycerin

First recorded in 1855–60; nitro- + glycerin


Vocabulary lists containing nitroglycerin

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

As if those choices were comparably distasteful when, in fact, one is vanilla and the other is nitroglycerin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2023

Doctors had been prescribing nitroglycerin for angina and other heart ailments for over a century — including, coincidentally, to Alfred Nobel, who founded the Nobel Prizes.

From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2023

And assembling a courtroom mosaic to portray a capital defendant is like handling nitroglycerin.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2022

"I thought you were reaching for your emergency nitroglycerin pill," she jokes with a "ha ha old man" lightness.

From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2021

He carried aspirins and nitroglycerin tablets and who knew what else.

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye

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