nitrite
Americannoun
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A salt or ester of nitrous acid, containing the group NO 2. Nitrites are an important component of the nitrogen cycle and are used as food preservatives.
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Compare nitrate
Etymology
Origin of nitrite
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.
Under a positive voltage, they found that nitrate ions "passivate" the catalyst by attaching to its surface, which prevents copper oxide from converting to metallic copper and instead results in the formation of nitrite ions.
From Science Daily • Nov. 22, 2025
Depending on whom you ask, it is either the nitrite preservatives used in these products or the high levels of fat and salt.
From Slate • Aug. 2, 2025
Westminster Coroners’ Court heard Elena Ali and Sunny Parker-Propst were both given sodium nitrite instead of sodium bicarbonate in 2020 while under the care of staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
From BBC • Jul. 22, 2024
Scientists have also studied poisons such as sodium nitrite, but they risk harming other species.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 21, 2023
The brown is made by reducing the dinitrobenzene to diamidobenzene, and then treating a solution of the latter with sodium nitrite and an acid.
From Coal and What We Get from It by Meldola, Raphael
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.
