nitrous acid

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noun Chemistry.

an acid, HNO2, known only in solution.

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Origin of nitrous acid

First recorded in 1670–80

Words nearby nitrous acid

nitrostarch, nitrosyl, nitrosylsulfuric, nitrosylsulfuric acid, nitrous, nitrous acid, nitrous bacteria, nitrous ether, nitrous oxide, nitroxanthic acid, nits-and-lice

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

How to use nitrous acid in a sentence

Nitrite of ethyl is best made by passing nitrous acid gas into alcohol.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley
Nitrous air is completely decomposed by a mixture of about half its bulk of dephlogisticated air, and the produce is nitrous acid.
Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry|Joseph Priestley
This air is likewise decomposed by dephlogisticated nitrous acid, which by this means becomes phlogisticated.
Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry|Joseph Priestley
The nitrous acid may be exhibited in the form of air, as well as the vitriolic, the marine, and the fluor acids.
Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry|Joseph Priestley

The nitrous acid unites with phlogiston, alkalis, metallic substances, and calcareous earth.
Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry|Joseph Priestley

British Dictionary definitions for nitrous acid

nitrous acid

noun

a weak monobasic acid known only in solution and in the form of nitrite salts. Formula: HNO 2Systematic name: dioxonitric(III) acid

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 nitrous acid

nitrous acid

A weak inorganic acid existing only in solution or in the form of its salts. It can act either as an oxidizing agent or as a reducing agent. Chemical formula: HNO2.