nitrate
Americannoun
-
nitrates
plural
-
Chemistry. a salt or ester of nitric acid, or any compound containing the univalent group –ONO 2 or NO 3 .
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fertilizer consisting of potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate.
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Informal. nitrate film.
verb (used with object)
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nitrates,
present (3rd person singular)
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nitrated,
past participle, past
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nitrating
present participle
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to treat with nitric acid or a nitrate.
-
to convert into a nitrate.
noun
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any salt or ester of nitric acid, such as sodium nitrate, NaNO 3
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a fertilizer consisting of or containing nitrate salts
verb
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(tr) to treat with nitric acid or a nitrate
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to convert or be converted into a nitrate
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to undergo or cause to undergo the chemical process in which a nitro group is introduced into a molecule
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A salt or ester of nitric acid, containing the group NO 3. Nitrates dissolve extremely easily in water and are an important component of the nitrogen cycle.
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Compare nitrite
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
nitratesimple
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nitratessimple
-
have nitratedperfect
-
has nitratedperfect
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am nitratingprogressive
-
are nitratingprogressive
-
is nitratingprogressive
-
have been nitratingperfect progressive
-
has been nitratingperfect progressive
Past
-
nitratedsimple
-
had nitratedperfect
-
was nitratingprogressive
-
were nitratingprogressive
-
had been nitratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of nitrate
Vocabulary lists containing nitrate
South America - Middle School
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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.
See Examples For:
Alongside the hot weather, the government said "the efforts of the Action for Cleaner Water group and agriculture industry to reduce nitrate use on fields will support the reduction of build-up".
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Nitrite and nitrate testing is not routinely required in every suspected suicide, making it difficult to determine exactly how many deaths are associated with the chemical.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
The research team now plans to conduct a larger study involving athletes to further examine how sugary chewing gum affects nitrate metabolism, blood pressure, and exercise performance.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
The festival is dedicated to screening prints on nitrate film, which was standard in Hollywood through the 1940s but is rarely shown today.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
We were sitting in chemistry lab, waiting to see what happened when we mixed silver nitrate and salt.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
They contain nitrates, high levels of sodium and saturated fats, and aromatic hydrocarbons that increase the risk of cancer, hypertension, and heart disease.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 21, 2026
During the internship, he was a lead author on a research paper with Barge, Khodayari and others on how nitrates react with iron compounds in aqueous environments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2024
In the Upper Midwest, where corn and soy are king, public and private wells are extensively contaminated with excess nitrates from chemical fertilizers and animal manure that’s been applied to farmland.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2024
Specifically, Suzuki and his colleagues performed simulations on 42 combinations of β-MIGaO2, MI = Na, Li, Cu, Ag as precursors, and halides and nitrates as ion sources.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2024
When the animal feeds on vegetation containing an abnormally high level of nitrates, the microorganisms in the rumen act on the nitrates to change them into highly toxic nitrites.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
"This is a common modification we see in biology. However, we found that HGF loses its physiological activity when it becomes nitrated, and this phenomenon accumulates with age."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2024
One of the most effective ways of doing this is to develop antibodies that bind to the protein and block it from being nitrated in the first place.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2024
The widespread willingness to forgive pink, nitrated bacon for causing cancer illustrates how torn we feel when something beloved in our culture is proven to be detrimental to health.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 1, 2018
When PAHs from a flame mingle with nitrogen, say from a slab of meat, they can form nitrated PAHs, or NPAHs.
From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2014
Favier Explosives: mixtures in varying proportions containing ammonium nitrate, nitronaphthalene, paraffin, and resin; higher nitrated naphthalenes, potassium nitrate, and tetryl may be present.
From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 3: Estremoz to Felspar by Various
By simply nitrating at a higher temperature than the cotton, the flax will yield a pyroxyline giving an equally fluid collodion.
From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by P. Gerald (Percy Gerald) Sanford
Notes Fuming nitric acid may be used in nitrating benzyl cyanide, but the method here described is cheaper.
From Organic Syntheses by James Bryant Conant
He adds ammonium sulphate or ammonium nitrate to the mixed acids during the operation of nitrating, which he claims destroys the nitrous acid formed according to the equation—
From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by P. Gerald (Percy Gerald) Sanford
Another form of nitric acid plant, which promises to be of considerable service to the manufacturer of nitric acid for the purpose of nitrating, is the invention of the late Mr Manning Prentice, of Stowmarket.
From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by P. Gerald (Percy Gerald) Sanford
The acid mixture and the method of nitrating have much to do with the action of the various solvents, so also has the presence of water.
From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by P. Gerald (Percy Gerald) Sanford
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.
