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guncotton

[guhn-kot-n]
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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.

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

Historical Examples of guncotton

  • "Like litmus paper under the influence of an acid," explains Guncotton.

    My Austrian Love

    Maxime Provost

  • "We have orders in case of no Germans are there," said Guncotton.

    My Austrian Love

    Maxime Provost

  • Look, for instance, at our friend Cotton, our good Guncotton.

    My Austrian Love

    Maxime Provost

  • Holding in one hand the wad of guncotton the size of his head, he applied a match to it.

    Dynamite Stories

    Hudson Maxim

  • Both "guncotton" and "gun-cottom" are used and have not been changed.

    The Gunner's Examiner

    Harold E. Cloke

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