sal volatile

[ salvoh-lat-l-ee ]
See synonyms for sal volatile on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an aromatic alcoholic solution of ammonium carbonate, the chief ingredient in smelling salts.

Origin of sal volatile

1
1645–55; <New Latin: volatile salt

Words Nearby sal volatile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sal volatile in a sentence

  • The nurse brought her sal volatile, and washed the small cut above her eyebrow.

    Marriage la mode | Mrs. Humphry Ward
  • I had fears that I might find you alone in a darkened room, with tear-stained eyes and sal-volatile by your side.

    The Double Four | E. Phillips Oppenheim
  • He was drinking a dose of sal-volatile, and admiring its opal tint.

    The Napoleon of Notting Hill | Gilbert K. Chesterton
  • If I were her medical man, I should order her a dose of rhubarb and sal volatile.

  • An uneasy conscience?ah!for an uneasy conscience there is nothing better than sal volatile!

    The Sorrows of Satan | Marie Corelli

British Dictionary definitions for sal volatile

sal volatile

/ (vɒˈlætɪlɪ) /


noun
  1. another name for ammonium carbonate

  2. Also called: spirits of ammonia, (archaic) hartshorn a solution of ammonium carbonate in alcohol and aqueous ammonia, often containing aromatic oils, used as smelling salts

Origin of sal volatile

1
C17: from New Latin: volatile salt

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