cordite

American  

[kawr-dahyt] / ˈkɔr daɪt /

noun

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

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cordite British  

/ ˈkɔːdaɪt /

noun

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

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cordite Scientific  

/ kôr′dīt′ /

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of cordite

First recorded in 1885–90; cord + -ite ¹, so called from its cordlike form

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cordite

And though the characters in this kind of farce are usually married, it seems that over the course of 20 years one girlfriend would have asked the other, “Is that cordite you’re wearing?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Getting themselves to fever pitch when there's cordite in the air is one thing.

From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026

Adams is beholden to multiple constituencies, and for some faction of supporters his charisma has always derived, at least in part, from the whiff of cordite.

From The New Yorker ● Mar. 9, 2015

War floods these people’s lives like a natural catastrophe, a Hurricane Katrina that reeks of cordite.

From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2011

The air outside was still and muggy, but I could smell cordite in the air.

From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers

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