a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc.
table salt mixed with a particular herb or seasoning for which it is named.
garlic salt;
celery salt.
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.
salts, any of various salts used as purgatives, as Epsom salts.
an element that gives liveliness, piquancy, or pungency.
Anecdotes are the salt of his narrative.
wit; pungency.
a small, usually open dish, as of silver or glass, used on the table for holding salt.
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.
to season with salt.
to cure, preserve, or treat with salt.
to furnish with salt.
to salt cattle.
to treat with common salt or with any chemical salt.
to spread salt, especially rock salt, on so as to melt snow or ice.
The highway department salted the roads after the storm.
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.
to add interest or excitement to.
a novel salted with witty dialogue.
containing salt; having the taste of salt.
salt water.
cured or preserved with salt.
salt cod.
inundated by or growing in salt water.
salt marsh.
producing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is not sweet, sour, or bitter.
pungent or sharp.
salt speech.
salt out to separate (a dissolved substance) from a solution by the addition of a salt, especially common salt.
salt away
Also salt down to preserve by adding quantities of salt to, as meat.
Informal. to keep in reserve; store away; save.
to salt away most of one's earnings.
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.
worth one's salt, deserving of one's wages or salary.
We couldn't find an assistant worth her salt.
rub salt in / into someone's wounds, to make someone's bad situation even worse.
a white powder or colourless crystalline solid, consisting mainly of sodium chloride and used for seasoning and preserving food
(modifier) preserved in, flooded with, containing, or growing in salt or salty water
salt pork
salt marshes
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
liveliness or pungency
his wit added salt to the discussion
dry or laconic wit
a sailor, esp one who is old and experienced
short for saltcellar
to make someone's pain, shame, etc, even worse
a person or group of people regarded as the finest of their kind
with reservations; sceptically
efficient; worthy of one's pay
to season or preserve with salt
to scatter salt over (an icy road, path, etc) to melt the ice
to add zest to
to preserve or cure with salt or saline solution
chem to treat with common salt or other chemical salt
to provide (cattle, etc) with salt
to give a false appearance of value to, esp to introduce valuable ore fraudulently into (a mine, sample, etc)
not sour, sweet, or bitter; salty
obsolete rank or lascivious (esp in the phrase a salt wit )
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.
See more at complex salt double salt simple salt
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.
See sailor.
Common table salt is sodium chloride.
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
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
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.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I was skeptical when I first came across a recipe for dates generously filled with slivers of butter, finished off with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
Sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt over the top.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
Myka’s fro-yo is served with toppings like extra-virgin olive oil, diced figs, Maldon salt and a hazelnut cream mixed with the crunch of kataifi, an ingredient made famous by Dubai chocolate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
When my neck shrine was finally finished, it was pronounced "exquisite" and left to dry, while salt beef and cream cheese beigels arrived from nearby Brick Lane.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
She’d scarcely tasted it, even when she’d taken it with half the salt cellar.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
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
The cap on the state and local tax deduction, or SALT, increased from $10,000 to $40,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 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.
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
Spent firecrackers scatter residue that contains partially burned fuel, metal salts, additives, and pieces of charred packaging.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 4, 2026
The hydration break arrived and it wasn't liquid that the underdogs needed, it was oxygen, smelling salts, large brandies.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 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
He had returned, he said, because he had forgotten to take his Epsom salts.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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
They switch up their flavors often, but my favorite is the salted caramel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Fans of lightly salted Calbee chips will no longer see the familiar orange and blue design, while seaweed-flavor enthusiasts will miss out on yellow and green.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
It was so hot the chunk of cold butter was almost fully melted by the time I’d salted it.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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
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
The Department for Infrastructure said salting of "roads on the scheduled network considered to be at risk of ice and snow has been undertaken through the night".
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2024
As if the expense and trouble were not irksome enough, all and sundry insisted on salting Ned's wound by calling it "the Hand's tourney," as if he were the cause of it.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
