nitrate

[ noun nahy-treyt, -trit; verb nahy-treyt ]

noun

Chemistry. a salt or ester of nitric acid, or any compound containing the univalent group –ONO2 or NO3.
fertilizer consisting of potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate.

nitrocellulose.
Informal. nitrate film.

verb (used with object),ni·trat·ed, ni·trat·ing.

to treat with nitric acid or a nitrate.
to convert into a nitrate.

Origin of nitrate

First recorded in 1785–95; nitr- + -ate²

Other words from nitrate

ni·tra·tion, noun

Words Nearby nitrate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use nitrate in a sentence

Salts that slowly release oxygen or nitrate — which cable bacteria can use in place of oxygen — might help spur the electrical organisms’ growth at oil spills.
Electrical bacteria may help clean oil spills and curb methane emissions | Nikk Ogasa | July 29, 2022 | Science News
During the embalming process, cemetery workers use formaldehyde, potassium nitrate, and chrome paint.
COVID-19 is overcrowding cemeteries and causing heavy metal pollution | Anuradha Varanasi | February 12, 2022 | Popular-Science
He pointed out that nitrogen can be burned at sufficiently high temperatures to create nitrate compounds, and that this can be done using electricity.
Why I’m a proud solutionist | Jason Crawford | July 13, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
Our hot dogs don’t have nitrates, don’t have fillings, don’t have dyes.
Miguel Patricio, CEO of Kraft Heinz, Says the End of the Ketchup Shortage Is in Sight | Eben Shapiro | June 13, 2021 | Time
Nontraditional flavors ammonium nitrate, C-4, and gelignite did not test well.
Up to a Point: P.J. O’Rourke on Valentine’s Day and Oral Hygiene | P. J. O’Rourke | February 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

Ammonium nitrate is extremely common, and pretty dangerous, and also extremely useful.
The Most Dangerous Substance in America May Be Fertilizer | Megan McArdle | April 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Crystals of urea nitrate or oxalate (Fig. 19) will soon appear and can be recognized with the microscope.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
At once cover the mouth of the tube with a filter-paper cap moistened with saturated aqueous solution of silver nitrate (1:1).
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
The beneficial effects of nitrate of soda appear to be almost entirely confined to the grasses and cereals.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry | Thomas Anderson
The alkaline solution reduced Fehling solution and ammoniacal silver nitrate, indicating the presence of a sugar.
Some Constituents of the Poison Ivy Plant: (Rhus Toxicodendron) | William Anderson Syme
Fehling solution and ammoniacal silver nitrate were reduced by it.
Some Constituents of the Poison Ivy Plant: (Rhus Toxicodendron) | William Anderson Syme

British Dictionary definitions for nitrate

nitrate

/ (ˈnaɪtreɪt) /

noun

any salt or ester of nitric acid, such as sodium nitrate, NaNO 3
a fertilizer consisting of or containing nitrate salts

verb

(tr) to treat with nitric acid or a nitrate
to convert or be converted into a nitrate

to undergo or cause to undergo the chemical process in which a nitro group is introduced into a molecule

Derived forms of nitrate

nitration, noun

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

Scientific definitions for nitrate

nitrate

[ nī′trāt′ ]

A salt or ester of nitric acid, containing the group NO3. Nitrates dissolve extremely easily in water and are an important component of the nitrogen cycle. Compare nitrite.

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