sodium nitrite

noun

1. Chemistry. a yellowish or white crystalline compound, NaNO 2 , soluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol and ether: used in the manufacture of dyes and as a color fixative.
2. Nutrition. this compound added to food as a preservative and for flavor and color, especially in pork, fish, and beef products: implicated in the formation of suspected carcinogens.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sodium nitrite¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

HCl, cooled in ice, and diazotized with sodium nitrite solution, until starch iodide paper showed excess nitrous acid.

From Project Gutenberg

The following are well-known synthetic indicators: hacmoid, obtained from resorcin and sodium nitrite, resembles litmus.

From Project Gutenberg

It is an easy matter to obtain sodium nitrite (NaNO2), as the reaction given on the previous page indicates.

From Project Gutenberg

It consists essentially in the use of an acidulated bath of sodium nitrite.

From Project Gutenberg

Sodium nitrite may lower the blood pressure but the effects will have worn off in two hours.

From Project Gutenberg