guncotton

[guhn-kot-n]

noun

a highly explosive cellulose nitrate, made by digesting clean cotton in a mixture of one part nitric acid and three parts sulfuric acid: used in making smokeless powder.

Nearby words

Origin of guncotton

First recorded in 1840–50; gun¹ + cotton

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for guncotton

Some two hours later, having prepared a large charge of guncotton, we went below and laid it.
Fighting the Boche Underground|Harry Davis Trounce
These are crumbling in places, and the Pioneers might destroy the bastion and breach the wall with a bag or two of guncotton.
The Unveiling of Lhasa|Edmund Candler
Guncotton is made by immersing cleaned and dried cotton waste in a mixture of strong nitric and sulphuric acids.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6|Various
The guncotton is made by treating flax or cotton waste with sulphuric and nitric acids.
The Boy's Book of New Inventions|Harry E. Maule

It is made of guncotton and nitroglycerine and acetone is one of the chemicals required in its manufacture.
Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights|Kelly Miller

British Dictionary definitions for guncotton

guncotton

noun

cellulose nitrate containing a relatively large amount of nitrogen: used as an explosive

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