potassium nitrate
a crystalline compound, KNO3, produced by nitrification in soil, and used in gunpowders, fertilizers, and preservatives; saltpeter; niter.
Origin of potassium nitrate
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use potassium nitrate in a sentence
Add a few crystals of potassium nitrate and when cool dilute with water.
Detection of the Common Food Adulterants | Edwin M. BruceIn the United States powder for blasting contains sodium nitrate instead of potassium nitrate.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia | VariousGelatine Dynamite: a mixture of blasting gelatine with potassium nitrate and wood-meal.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia | VariousPelosine or buxine is precipitated by a concentrated solution of HCl, by sal ammoniac, by potassium nitrate and potassium iodide.
The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines | T. H. Pardo de TaveraOne might assume that all that was necessary was to make up a solution of potassium nitrate and inject it.
British Dictionary definitions for potassium nitrate
a colourless or white crystalline compound used in gunpowders, pyrotechnics, fertilizers, and as a preservative for foods, esp as a curing salt for ham, sausages, etc (E252). Formula: KNO 3: Also called: saltpetre, nitre
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 potassium nitrate
A transparent, white, crystalline compound and strong oxidizing agent. It is used in gunpowder and fireworks, in making glass, and in fertilizer. Also called saltpeter. Chemical formula: KNO3. See also niter.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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