sodium nitrite

noun

Chemistry. a yellowish or white crystalline compound, NaNO2, soluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol and ether: used in the manufacture of dyes and as a color fixative.
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.

Origin of sodium nitrite

First recorded in 1900–05

Also called nitrite.

sodium nitrite in Medicine

A white crystalline compound used to lower systemic blood pressure, to relieve local vasomotor spasms, to relax bronchial and intestinal spasms, and as an antidote for cyanide poisoning.