gunpowder
Americannoun
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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
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.
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
One Tehran local told the BBC that the city had been turned into a "ghost town" with empty streets and a lingering smell of gunpowder.
From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026
They likened AI’s potential to transform the military to gunpowder, a technology invented in China but more effectively weaponized, many in China believe, by others.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 25, 2026
Drones were spotted this month in France, loitering around a gunpowder plant and a train station where tanks are located.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 23, 2025
He was a powder monkey, which meant it was his job to rush heavy bags of explosive gunpowder to the men loading the cannons.
From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
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.
