lyddite

American  

[lid-ahyt] / ˈlɪd aɪt /

noun

Chemistry.

1. a high explosive consisting chiefly of picric acid.

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lyddite British  

/ ˈlɪdaɪt /

noun

1. an explosive consisting chiefly of fused picric acid

2. a dense black variety of chert, formerly used as a touchstone

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Etymology

Origin of lyddite

1885–90; named after Lydd, borough in SE England near the site where it was first tested; see -ite ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lyddite

The armament of a motor launch consisted of a 13-pounder quick-firing high-angle gun, capable of throwing a lyddite shell for over four miles, and was as useful against aircraft as it was against submarines.

From Submarine Warfare of To-day How the Submarine Menace was Met and Vanquished, With Descriptions of the Inventions and Devices Used, Fast Boats, Mystery Ships by Charles W. (Charles William) Domville-Fife

Three full companies of sappers and miners, ten mountain howitzers, a field battery, fifty rapid-fire standing rifles, and a complete outfit for throwing lyddite.

From The Man Who Rocked the Earth by Robert Williams Wood

As he has said, it is a desperate night of driving sleet and swirling blackness, illuminated only with the malignant coruscations of lyddite bursting-charges.

From The Dop Doctor by Richard Dehan

It seemed as if General Buller were determined to annihilate all the Boers with his lyddite shells, so as to enable the soldiers to walk at their leisure to the release of Ladysmith.

From My Reminiscences of the Anglo-Boer War by P. Van Breda

"With us loaded down to the gunn'l wi' lyddite, an' the prospect o' being a target for every German gun within range o' this road."

From Between the Lines by Boyd Cable

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