gunpowder
Americannoun
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gunpowders
plural
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an explosive mixture, as of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal, used in shells and cartridges, in fireworks, for blasting, etc.
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Also called gunpowder tea. a fine variety of green China tea, each leaf of which is rolled into a little ball.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of gunpowder
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at gun 1, powder 1
Vocabulary lists containing gunpowder
East Asia - Middle School
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East Asia - High School
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Civil Engineering
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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.
See Examples For:
Blake had gunpowder residue on his body, which he explained by saying he’d been at target practice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
“I wouldn’t be surprised if 2026 is remembered for centuries to come as a year in which a major breakthrough in military technology was made—akin to gunpowder and the like—which is autonomy,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
After the Cold War, France ended centuries of gunpowder production, leading to thousands of layoffs in Bergerac.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Authorities said that two gunpowder warehouses within the factory area posed a high risk amid rescue efforts, state media reported.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries gunpowder, printing and the compass were the three inventions of modernity most frequently cited to prove the superiority of the moderns to the ancients.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Danger in Manufacture.—In the case of the old gunpowders, the most dangerous manufacturing operation was incorporation.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 1 "Evangelical Church Conference" to "Fairbairn, Sir William" by Various
The final testing is by firing proofs, as in the case of the old gunpowders.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 4 "Coquelin" to "Costume" by Various
The adoption by the French government of the comparatively smokeless nitrocellulose explosive of Paul Vieille in 1887 practically put an end to the old forms of gunpowders.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various
The foregoing appliances enabled accurate comparisons to be made at all points between different gunpowders, and to determine the various matters required in the manufacture of the first quality for the various arms of service.
From History of the Confederate Powder Works by George Washington Rains
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.
