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
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.
Navy officials have said the new battleship would be armed with unproven next-generation weapons including lasers and rail guns, which are weapons that use electricity to fire a projectile instead of gunpowder.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
A separate gunpowder factory will also be built in Sopot.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 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
The scene was pure chaos: thick smoke from gunpowder still hanging in the air, water cascading from ruptured pipes in the ceiling, alarms blaring, strobe lights flashing.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2025
But the only remnant left was the burning ache in my throat and the stench of spent gunpowder and swampy water muddling in my nostrils.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
