mercury fulminate

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. a gray, crystalline solid, Hg(CNO) 2 , used chiefly in the manufacture of commercial and military detonators.

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Etymology

Origin of mercury fulminate

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

The observation that acetylene can be resolved into its constituents by detonation is due to Berthelot, who started an explosive wave in it by firing a charge of 0.1 gram of mercury fulminate.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

The product obtained, which is mercury fulminate, is 112 per cent. of the mercury employed.

From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by Sanford, P. Gerald (Percy Gerald)

It is a more powerful explosive than mercury fulminate, and has been used instead, in the manufacture of detonators.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Atrebates to Bedlis by Various

They're lined with mercury fulminate, and you want to take your shoes off when you come near that.

From For Jacinta by Bindloss, Harold

At first the mixture blackens from the separation of mercury, but this soon vanishes, and is succeeded by crystalline flocks of mercury fulminate which fall to the bottom of the vessel.

From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by Sanford, P. Gerald (Percy Gerald)