saltpetre
Britishnoun
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another name for potassium nitrate
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short for Chile saltpetre
Etymology
Origin of saltpetre
C16: from Old French salpetre, from Latin sal petrae salt of rock
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.
Instead, they said warehouses containing the mineral fertiliser saltpetre had exploded - a claim ridiculed by Ukrainian officials.
From BBC • Jul. 12, 2022
To keep it from melting, the ice was treated with potassium nitrate, otherwise known as saltpetre.
From Salon • Dec. 31, 2020
As Jane Grigson explains in Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery, saltpetre was traditionally used when brining hams to give them “an attractive rosy appearance when otherwise it would be a murky greyish brown”.
From The Guardian • Mar. 1, 2018
When Germany was denied access to Chile’s saltpetre during the First World War, the Haber–Bosch process gave it — and the world — an alternative, which it grasped with both hands.
From Nature • Sep. 4, 2013
Salt and saltpetre dissolved in water are good conductors, and so are dilute acids, though strong sulphuric acid is a bad conductor.
From Hawkins Electrical Guide, Number One Questions, Answers, & Illustrations, A Progressive Course of Study for Engineers, Electricians, Students and Those Desiring to acquire a Working Knowledge of Electricity and its Applications by Hawkins, Nehemiah
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.
