cordite

[kawr-dahyt]

noun

a smokeless, slow-burning powder composed of 30 to 58 percent nitroglycerin, 37 to 65 percent cellulose nitrate, and 5 to 6 percent mineral jelly.

Origin of cordite

1885–90; cord + -ite¹, so called from its cordlike form

Also called pyrocellulose.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cordite

Contemporary Examples of cordite

By now the air in the room was awful, hanging with the smell of cordite, lit only by the muzzle flashes.
Navy Seal Training: The Start of Hell Week
Marcus Luttrell, Patrick Robinson
May 8, 2011

Historical Examples of cordite

At twenty-five yards or a little under, the cordite rang out.
The Pools of Silence
H. de Vere Stacpoole
Sergeant Mayes picked up a charge of cordite and threw it away.
The British Navy Book
Cyril Field
The powder thus obtained was cordite, and this they recommended for adoption.
Inventors at Work
George Iles
The three were armed with Government 303 rifles, while I had my cordite rifle.
Life in an Indian Outpost
Gordon Casserly
Cordite: the principal smokeless powder of the British Empire.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia
Various

British Dictionary definitions for cordite

cordite

noun

any of various explosive materials used for propelling bullets, shells, etc, containing cellulose nitrate, sometimes mixed with nitroglycerine, plasticizers, and stabilizers

Word Origin for cordite

C19: from cord + -ite 1, referring to its stringy appearance

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

Word Origin and History for cordite

smokeless explosive, 1889, from cord + -ite (2); so called for its "curiously string-like appearance" in the words of a newspaper of the day.

cordite in Science

cordite

[kôr′dīt′]

An explosive powder consisting of nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, and petroleum jelly, used as a propellant for guns. It does not generate smoke and is shaped into cords.