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  • salt
    salt
    noun
    a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc.
  • SALT
Synonyms

salt

1 American  
[sawlt] / sɔlt /

noun

salts plural
  1. a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc.

  2. table salt mixed with a particular herb or seasoning for which it is named.

    garlic salt;

    celery salt.

  3. Chemistry. any of a class of compounds formed by the replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms of an acid with elements or groups, which are composed of anions and cations, and which usually ionize in solution; a product formed by the neutralization of an acid by a base.

  4. salts, any of various salts used as purgatives, as Epsom salts.

  5. an element that gives liveliness, piquancy, or pungency.

    Anecdotes are the salt of his narrative.

    Synonyms:
    zest, flavor
  6. wit; pungency.

  7. a small, usually open dish, as of silver or glass, used on the table for holding salt.

  8. Informal. a sailor, especially an old or experienced one.

    He's an old salt who'll be happy to tell you about his years at sea.


verb (used with object)

salts, present (3rd person singular) salted, past participle, past salting present participle
  1. to season with salt.

  2. to cure, preserve, or treat with salt.

  3. to furnish with salt.

    to salt cattle.

  4. to treat with common salt or with any chemical salt.

  5. to spread salt, especially rock salt, on so as to melt snow or ice.

    The highway department salted the roads after the storm.

  6. to introduce rich ore or other valuable matter fraudulently into (a mine, the ground, a mineral sample, etc.) to create a false impression of value.

  7. to add interest or excitement to.

    a novel salted with witty dialogue.

adjective

  1. containing salt; having the taste of salt.

    salt water.

  2. cured or preserved with salt.

    salt cod.

  3. inundated by or growing in salt water.

    salt marsh.

  4. producing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is not sweet, sour, or bitter.

  5. pungent or sharp.

    salt speech.

verb phrase

  1. salt out to separate (a dissolved substance) from a solution by the addition of a salt, especially common salt.

  2. salt away

    1. Also salt down to preserve by adding quantities of salt to, as meat.

    2. Informal. to keep in reserve; store away; save.

      to salt away most of one's earnings.

idioms

  1. with a grain / pinch of salt, with reserve or allowance; with an attitude of skepticism.

    Diplomats took the reports of an impending crisis with a grain of salt.

  2. worth one's salt, deserving of one's wages or salary.

    We couldn't find an assistant worth her salt.

  3. rub salt in / into someone's wounds, to make someone's bad situation even worse.

salt 2 American  
[sawlt] / sɔlt /

adjective

Obsolete.
  1. lustful; lecherous.


SALT 3 American  
[sawlt] / sɔlt /
SALT 1 British  
/ sɔːlt /

acronym

  1. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks or Treaty

"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

salt 2 British  
/ sɔːlt /

noun

  1. a white powder or colourless crystalline solid, consisting mainly of sodium chloride and used for seasoning and preserving food

  2. (modifier) preserved in, flooded with, containing, or growing in salt or salty water

    salt pork

    salt marshes

  3. chem any of a class of usually crystalline solid compounds that are formed from, or can be regarded as formed from, an acid and a base by replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms in the acid molecules by positive ions from the base

  4. liveliness or pungency

    his wit added salt to the discussion

  5. dry or laconic wit

  6. a sailor, esp one who is old and experienced

  7. short for saltcellar

  8. to make someone's pain, shame, etc, even worse

  9. a person or group of people regarded as the finest of their kind

  10. with reservations; sceptically

  11. efficient; worthy of one's pay

"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

verb

  1. to season or preserve with salt

  2. to scatter salt over (an icy road, path, etc) to melt the ice

  3. to add zest to

  4. to preserve or cure with salt or saline solution

  5. chem to treat with common salt or other chemical salt

  6. to provide (cattle, etc) with salt

  7. to give a false appearance of value to, esp to introduce valuable ore fraudulently into (a mine, sample, etc)

"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

adjective

  1. not sour, sweet, or bitter; salty

  2. obsolete rank or lascivious (esp in the phrase a salt wit )

"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
salt Scientific  
/ sôlt /
  1. Any of a large class of chemical compounds formed when a positively charged ion (a cation) bonds with a negatively charged ion (an anion), as when a halogen bonds with a metal. Salts are water soluble; when dissolved, the ions are freed from each other, and the electrical conductivity of the water is increased.

  2. See more at complex salt double salt simple salt

  3. A colorless or white crystalline salt in which a sodium atom (the cation) is bonded to a chlorine atom (the anion). This salt is found naturally in all animal fluids, in seawater, and in underground deposits (when it is often called halite). It is used widely as a food seasoning and preservative. Also called common salt, sodium chloride, table salt. Chemical formula: NaCl.


salt Cultural  
  1. In chemistry, a compound resulting from the combination of an acid and a base, which neutralize each other.


salt More Idioms  

    More idioms and phrases containing salt


Synonym Usage

See sailor.

Discover More

Common table salt is sodium chloride.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of salt1

First recorded before 900; Middle English; noun and adjective salt, salte, zalt, Old English sealt; cognate with German Salz, Old Norse, Gothic salt, all from Germanic saltam; akin to Latin sal, Greek háls, Slavic ( Polish ) sol-, Celtic ( Irish ) salann ; Middle English verb salten, Old English saltan, sealtan; compare Old High German salzan, Old Norse salta, Dutch zouten; akin to Latin sallere “to sprinkle with salt”; see also halo- ( def. ), salary, sauce

Origin of salt2

First recorded in 1515–25; by shortening and alteration of assaut, Middle English a sawt, from Middle French a saut “on the jump,” from a- a- 5 ( def. ) + saut “a jump,” from Latin saltus, equivalent to sal(īre) “to jump” + -tus suffix of verbal action; see also halter 2 ( def. ), salacious

Explanation

The white, grainy stuff that makes food taste more flavorful is salt. You might sprinkle salt on your hot buttered popcorn to make it even more delicious. Although many people eat too much salt, it's actually necessary for life, in both plants and animals. The scientific name for salt is sodium chloride, and it's been harvested from seawater and salt mines for most of human history. When you use salt as a verb, it means "shake salt onto." If someone's known as an old salt, it means they're an experienced sailor — and if they're the salt of the earth, they're honest and reliable.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing salt

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:

You can even take it a step further and whip your goat cheese with cream cheese, salt and fresh herbs for a tangier and more aromatic filling.

From Salon Jul. 20, 2026

The “Himalayan salt room” boasts giant salt rocks from Korea on the walls and ceiling.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 20, 2026

Sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt over the top.

From Salon Jul. 20, 2026

In underground salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana, the U.S. government stores hundreds of millions of barrels worth of oil in case of energy shocks.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 18, 2026

But I have not yet found any signs of salt.

From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga

For example, the state and local tax, or SALT, deduction grew to a maximum of $40,000, four times its previous size, under the new law.

From MarketWatch Apr. 14, 2026

For years, historians followed the bomb’s echoes through the Cold War: Bikini Atoll and nuclear bunkers, Strangelove and SALT, détente and Defcon, Star Wars and saber rattling, to hit a few low points.

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 16, 2026

Altfest has been paying close attention to changes in the state and local tax, or SALT, deduction this year in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

From Barron's Nov. 25, 2025

And while he did contemplate signing up for another lease for SALT, he said he had decided it was time to move into food media.

From BBC Oct. 21, 2025

SALT, T.C., a prominent member of the Political Union, died April 27, 1859, aged 70.

From Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham A History and Guide Arranged Alphabetically by Harman, Thomas T.

It also released about 35 percent of the fluorine atoms originally bound within the chemicals, converting them into fluoride salts.

From Science Daily Jul. 20, 2026

Then I’ll drink a whole liter of water if I need to replenish my body with some electrolytes and some mineral salts.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 11, 2026

At the same time, dissolved salts and minerals are guided away from the active area and deposited onto untreated sections of the panel called passive regions.

From Science Daily May 31, 2026

"I make sure to drink large amounts of water and beverages rich in salts and minerals, because we sweat constantly and are always on the move," said Imad Ahmed, visiting from Britain.

From Barron's May 25, 2026

The Attendant’s charge has passed out, and the woman’s serving girl is trying to alternately drag her or revive her with smelling salts while the Attendant provides a distraction.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

A few tips: I prefer using unsalted over salted butter since it lets me go crazy with the flaky sea salt, which adds a nice crunch to an otherwise soft snack.

From Salon Jul. 20, 2026

You can very easily make salted corn chips at home with some corn flour, oil, and salt.

From Slate Jul. 12, 2026

Many try to keep cool by covering their heads, drinking salted water or adjusting work hours to avoid the harshest afternoon sun - but such measures offer only limited relief.

From BBC May 28, 2026

There’s also République, the French-inspired bakery and cafe known for its salted caramel chocolate cake.

From Los Angeles Times May 18, 2026

I thought about the little gifts Kazi gives us all the time—pieces of candy under our pillows or a ripe tomato from the garden, sliced, salted, and sprinkled with chili pepper on a plate.

From "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani

First, the bad news: “Snowcrete” is the treacherous ice that results when rain, imprecise or nonexistent plowing and insufficient salting turn what was once fluffy white snow into a dense and dirty scourge.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 2, 2026

Rock samples dating from 1995 to 1997 were analysed and found to have been tampered with through a process called salting.

From BBC May 18, 2024

They could get a job now and start salting away that cash and get some great life lessons along the way.

From Slate Apr. 29, 2024

The Drexel team has been developing its cold-weather-resilient concrete mix over the last five years with the goal of reducing the freezing, thawing and salting that eats away at roads and other concrete surfaces.

From Science Daily Mar. 18, 2024

They’re pretty busy salting down a new load of herring, but Devlin Murphy, the boss and owner, he gives me the eye and comes over before I can get away.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick

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