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rock salt

American  

noun

  1. common salt occurring in extensive, irregular beds in rocklike masses.


rock salt British  

noun

  1. another name for halite

"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

Etymology

Origin of rock salt

First recorded in 1700–10

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:

The winter storm that sent Americans scurrying to buy snowblowers, shovels, and rock salt now has them in a deep freeze.

From Barron's Jan. 27, 2026

"Although we focus on rock salt HEOs, our methods provide a broad adaptable framework for enabling uncharted, promising chemically disordered complex oxides."

From Science Daily Dec. 4, 2025

It also warns owners to wash their paws thoroughly after walking in areas that may have been gritted with rock salt, which can be poisonous to pets.

From BBC Jan. 17, 2024

A crack monitor is attached to the wall of a house with damage linked to rock salt mining by the petrochemical company Braskem in Maceio, Brazil January 29, 2020.

From Reuters May 18, 2022

So he left the bag of rock salt in the stairwell, and took the shovel upstairs.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer

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