nitrate

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

/ noun ˈnaɪ treɪt, -trɪt; verb ˈnaɪ treɪt /

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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.

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Origin of nitrate

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

OTHER WORDS FROM nitrate

ni·tra·tion, noun

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

How to use nitrate in a sentence

Of late, though, nitrate contamination of drinking water, caused by heavy fertilizer use and linked to thyroid disease and some types of cancer, has become a major political issue in Salinas.
How technology might finally start telling farmers things they didn’t already know|Katie McLean|December 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Studies suggest that if climate change continues unabated, septic systems will be less able to filter toxic nitrates and fecal bacteria from wastewater.
Battling America’s ‘dirty secret’|Sarah Kaplan|December 17, 2020|Washington Post
When the nitration is completed, screw up the clamps and so occlude the two pieces of pressure tubing.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique|John William Henry Eyre
After the nitration, the acid is removed and the nitrocotton boiled up in water to stabilize it.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia|Various

After nitration the yellow tetryl separates out, and is filtered off and water-washed till free from acid.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia|Various
The sodium sulphite method has the advantages of being clean and neat, and of requiring no nitration.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
This substance readily yields ortho-oxybenzoic acid or salicylic acid, which on nitration yields two mononitro-oxybenzoic acids.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1|Various

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.