giant powder

American

noun

dynamite composed of nitroglycerin and kieselguhr.

giant powder British

noun

dynamite composed of trinitroglycerine absorbed in kieselguhr

"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 giant powder

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

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.

I sense there is a giant powder field that no one has touched yet, and I am going after it.

From Forbes • Nov. 2, 2011

A suspect, chiefly because he's tied up with that anarchist crowd out there—an analyst of explosives, a chemist, cursed by this hideous accident—dangerous as giant powder itself!

From The Gray Mask by Camp, Wadsworth

I must know when we'll get those drills and the giant powder before I sleep.

From A Damaged Reputation by Bindloss, Harold

It was a pretty sight, after this anecdote, to see us sweeping out the giant powder.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 2 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis

I can't find any giant powder," he reported, and added, "get hold of the keg.

From The Boy Ranchers of Puget Sound by Bindloss, Harold

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