sodium cyanide

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a white, crystalline, deliquescent, water-soluble, poisonous powder, NaCN, prepared by heating sodium amide with charcoal: used chiefly in casehardening alloys, in the leaching and flotation of ore, and in electroplating.

sodium cyanide

noun

1. a white odourless crystalline soluble poisonous compound with an odour of hydrogen cyanide when damp. It is used for extracting gold and silver from their ores and for case-hardening steel. Formula: NaCN

Word History and Origins

Origin of sodium cyanide¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

When at last apprehended, Siddiqui was carrying a jar containing two pounds of a deadly poison, sodium cyanide.

From The Daily Beast

This chloride is then mixed with sodium cyanide in alcoholic solution and distilled, benzyl cyanide being the result.

From Project Gutenberg

Sodium cyanide is a salt of hydrocyanic acid, which for, some curious reason is called "Prussic acid."

From Project Gutenberg