ammonium nitrate

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noun Chemistry.

a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, NH4NO3, usually produced by reacting nitric acid with vaporous ammonia: used chiefly in explosives, fertilizers, freezing mixtures, and in the manufacture of nitrous oxide.

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Origin of ammonium nitrate

First recorded in 1880–85

Words nearby ammonium nitrate

ammonium chloride, ammonium cyanate, ammonium hydroxide, ammonium ion, ammonium lactate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium purpurate, ammonium salt, ammonium selenate, ammonium stearate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ammonium nitrate in a sentence

Nontraditional flavors ammonium nitrate, C-4, and gelignite did not test well.
Up to a Point: P.J. O’Rourke on Valentine’s Day and Oral Hygiene|P. J. O’Rourke|February 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ammonium nitrate is extremely common, and pretty dangerous, and also extremely useful.
The Most Dangerous Substance in America May Be Fertilizer|Megan McArdle|April 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Astralit (Wetter): ammonium nitrate explosive containing some blasting gelatine.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia|Various
Ammonite: Favier type; ammonium nitrate 75, dinitronaphthalene or other nitro-body, salt 20.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia|Various

Poudre Blanche Cornil: ammonium nitrate, alkali nitrate, nitronaphthalene, lead chromate.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia|Various
In the first class 74 are included sulphur and ammonium nitrate; monotropy is exhibited by aragonite and calcite.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1|Various
Sal ammoniac or ammonium nitrate when dissolved in water produce a much more marked cooling effect than does table salt.
Physics|Willis Eugene Tower

British Dictionary definitions for ammonium nitrate

ammonium nitrate

noun

a colourless highly soluble crystalline solid used mainly as a fertilizer and in explosives and pyrotechnics. Formula: NH 4 NO 3

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 ammonium nitrate

ammonium nitrate

A colorless crystalline salt used in fertilizers, explosives, and solid rocket propellants. Chemical formula: NH4NO3.