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gelignite

American  
[jel-ig-nahyt] / ˈdʒɛl ɪgˌnaɪt /

noun

  1. gelatin dynamite.

gelignite British  
/ ˈdʒɛlɪɡˌnaɪt /

noun

  1. Also called (informal): gelly.  a type of dynamite in which the nitrogelatine is absorbed in a base of wood pulp and potassium or sodium nitrate

"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

Etymology

Origin of gelignite

gel(atin) + Latin ign ( is ) fire + -ite 1

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.

"Graham, a compact parcel of Scouse gelignite, doesn't tend to play softies, so his simmering aggression felt all too credible."

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2019

For some time, British police had feared that increasing thefts of gelignite from military storehouses forecast an epidemic of bank robberies.

From Time Magazine Archive

Searchers crawled through the Victorian sewers beneath the square to make sure that the Libyans had not disposed of gelignite they were thought to possess by flushing it down a toilet.

From Time Magazine Archive

So, one day last week, engineers packed 120 Ib. of gelignite against one side of the tower, touched it off, and watched this appendix of Victorian days topple.

From Time Magazine Archive

For example, gelignite, which is being used for agricultural purposes in Great Britain, consists of nitro-glycerine mixed with nitro-cotton, wood-meal and saltpetre.

From Marvels of Scientific Invention An Interesting Account in Non-technical Language of the Invention of Guns, Torpedoes, Submarine Mines, Up-to-date Smelting, Freezing, Colour Photography, and many other recent Discoveries of Science by Corbin, Thomas W.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.