fuming nitric acid

noun

a colorless, yellowish, or brownish fuming corrosive liquid, usually prepared from nitric acid by the addition of excess nitrogen dioxide: used in organic synthesis for nitration, and as an oxidizer in liquid propellants for rockets.

Origin of fuming nitric acid

First recorded in 1785–95

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

Transfer the precipitate (after washing free from chlorides) to a Berlin dish, and treat cautiously with fuming nitric acid.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. | Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
Concentrated nitric acid highly charged with this substance is called fuming nitric acid.
An Elementary Study of Chemistry | William McPherson
An acid saturated with red oxides of nitrogen is often known as “fuming nitric acid.”
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection | Alexander Wynter Blyth
The meta-compound is obtained by the action of fuming nitric acid on nitro-benzol at a boiling temperature.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection | Alexander Wynter Blyth
fuming nitric acid does not separate sulphur, but converts the sulphide into sulphate.
Poisons: Their Effects and Detection | Alexander Wynter Blyth

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